Against All Odds
by starshipranger38
Summary: What were the odds that a fifteen year old girl would be saved from the robots by a battleworn lieutenant? Well, it happened, and now the odds are against Taz again as she fights to become one of the youngest and best Starship Rangers the Galactic League has ever seen.
1. Chapter 1

_Seeing as Starship is like my favourite thing in the whole world I thought I at least owed it a fanfiction. Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 1**

Taz smoothed down the frills on her dress and tentatively stepped in front of the mirror. She grimaced immediately, and turned to the side to get a different angle. It didn't make any difference. She still looked like a little girl.

Perhaps Taz wouldn't have minded wearing a dress quite so much if it hadn't been bright pink, covered in frills and bows and decidedly little girly. It was her Quinceañera after all, the day she was going from a girl to a woman, so why had her mother insisted she still dressed in such a childish outfit?

Taz sighed unhappily. Still, it was only for one day. One day of being the centre of attention, trying to plaster a fake smile on her face and pretending that she was happy everybody had turned out to celebrate her birthday.

Taz snorted. She could think of many things she'd much rather be doing, like playing football in the streets with the boys, or climbing trees, or even just sitting in the shade at the back of the house reading a book.

Taz took one look at the pink shoes that her mother had laid out for her to wear and decided that she wasn't going to wear them. With massive pink bows on the front and small heels that were entirely unsuitable for wearing outside on the uneven Mexican streets, Taz tossed them straight back in the box. She was drawing the line there. She usually walked around in bare feet. Today would be no different.

After a brief attempt at taming her wild hair with a comb, and looking at the make-up she'd been left with a look of disgust before ignoring it, Taz took a deep breath and left the room. She peered around the corner and down the stairs, assessing how many people would see her in the frilly pink horror.

Taz closed her eyes and pressed her back against the wall at the top of the stairs. After counting to ten, she took another deep breath, opened her eyes and gave a fake smile that was probably more of a grimace as she made her way down the stairs.

The room of people fell silent as Taz descended the rickety wooden staircase. Every single pair of eyes fell on her and Taz wanted nothing more than to run back up the stairs and hide beneath her blankets until all of the guests had gone home.

'You look beautiful, my dear,' said Taz's mother, kissing Taz's cheek.

'Thank you, mama,' replied Taz. She decided it was easier to agree with her mother than to start an argument, especially as her mother was stressed out trying to make the day perfect.

Taz walked around the room, all of her various relatives and neighbours telling her how pretty she looked, while she thanked them all. She had just managed to brush off the old man who lived next door, who had already had a few too many glasses of wine and tried to grope her bum, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

'Well, if it isn't my little Tazzy, all grown up!'

Taz turned around and her mouth fell open at the man standing there. She hadn't expected him to come. She hadn't seen him in five years. He was about a foot taller than Taz, with dark hair cut short and the same dark chocolate eyes as Taz. He was well-built, and underneath the smart suit he was wearing, it was clear that he was muscly.

'Hugo!'

Taz ran up to him and jumped up into his arms, causing him to stagger backwards.

'Whoa, Tazzy!' he said, regaining his footing and putting her down. 'You look absolutely delectable in that dress.'

'Don't lie, _idiota_!'

'I'm serious!' grinned Hugo. 'The dress makes you look just like the cake in the kitchen.'

Taz punched him playfully in the arm.

'So, what are you doing here?' she asked him. 'You left for the Starship Ranger Academy five years ago. Shouldn't you be out in space?'

'I graduated last year and I spent a few months out in space, fighting in the robot wars,' Hugo told her. 'We've heard rumours that the robots have come to Earth. My starship has been stationed not far from here. I should be on duty, but I got my lieutenant to cover for me if the commander asks where I am. I couldn't miss my little sister becoming a woman, could I?'

'I'm not little,' argued Taz.

'Yes you are, Tazzy,' teased Hugo. 'You haven't grown much since I last saw you. Still the same little Taz.

'You've changed,' Taz said. She prodded his bulky upper arm. 'Where did all this muscle come from?'

Hugo grinned. 'That's what four years at the Academy does to you.'

'When I'm old enough, I'm gonna join the Starship Rangers too,' said Taz. 'Only three more years and then I'll be joining you.'

'Mama will never let you,' said Hugo.

'I don't give a shit what Mama says I can't do,' growled Taz. 'Mama says I can't go out and play football with the boys in the street because I get dirty and graze my knees, but that don't stop me doing it.'

'Come on, let's get out of here,' said Hugo, taking Taz's hand and leading her through the crowd of people into the kitchen. He grabbed two cans of beer and left through the back door into a narrow alley between their house and the one behind it. Hugo offered one of the cans to Taz and she took it, opening it and gulping down half the contents eagerly.

'Take it easy, Tazzy,' said Hugo. 'We can't have you getting drunk.'

Taz poured the rest of the beer down her throat and looked at Hugo defiantly.

'Is today really that bad?' laughed Hugo.

'Yes, Hugo,' said Taz. 'Mama's been stressing about today for weeks. She wants it to be perfect. And the sooner I get drunk, the sooner I can forget how horrible this dress is.'

'I think you look beautiful.'

'Liar,' snorted Taz, and Hugo started laughed.

'Come on Tazzy, you only have to wear it for one day,' said Hugo. 'Then you can burn it if you want.'

'Mama probably wants me to keep it as a reminder of my special day.'

'Tazzy, you're a woman now. You don't have to do what mama says anymore.'

There was suddenly a loud explosion from out in the streets, followed by a yell.

'What was that?' frowned Taz.

'Probably those boy friends of yours causing trouble,' said Hugo, draining his can of beer and dropping it to the floor, crushing the can under the heel of his shoe. He kicked it away into the shadows with the other trash that littered the alleyway.

'I'm serious, Hugo,' said Taz, worriedly. 'That sounded like an explosion. My friends are rowdy, but they don't explode stuff.'

'I'm sure everything is...'

A second explosion went off, much closer to the alleyway where Taz and Hugo were talking. A piercing scream ripped through the air, followed by a sound that Taz didn't recognise. From the look of horror on Hugo's face, he knew exactly what was going on.

'That's zapper fire!' he exclaimed, his eyes wide with panic and fear. 'The rangers are here!'

Hugo set off at a sprint down the twisting passages of alleyways, the alleyways that they both knew so well, and Taz ran after him, hot on his heels. She was glad that she'd decided to go without the pink heels as they would have made it almost impossible to keep up with Hugo.

Hugo and Taz emerged out into a street just round the corner from where Taz's house was and they looked on in horror at the sight before them. There were about six robots wreaking havoc on the street, destroying houses and blowing up cars, and judging from the plumes of smoke and more distant explosions, there were plenty more in the rest of the little rundown village that Taz live in.

Without warning, the battered little car that Hugo and Taz stood behind exploded, sending them both flying through the air. Taz hit the ground hard and grunted in pain. She squinted through the cloud of dust and saw Hugo's face appear over her.

'You okay, Tazzy?' he asked.

'Never better,' groaned Taz, sitting up.

'Tazzy, I need you to stay safe,' said Hugo, a sense of urgency in his voice. 'I need you to find Mama and get out of here.'

'Hugo, where are you going?' asked Taz, as her older brother turned to walk away.

'Tazzy, I'm a Starship Ranger,' said Hugo. 'I need to go and fight. I'm here to get the job done.

He gave Taz a salute as he ran away, reminding her of the games that they'd played when they were she was a little girl and Hugo was a teenager, pretending that they were both Starship Rangers. Hugo had always been the Commander and Taz was his Lieutenant.

Taz got to her feet, remembering that task that Hugo had given her.

'I'm here to get the job done.' Taz muttered the famous Starship Ranger saying under her breath before running off down the street towards her house.

As she turned the corner onto her street, she stopped suddenly in her tracks. The crowd from Taz's party had spilled out onto the street in fear, and several of the houses were no more than rubble as the robots, about fifteen of them on this street, continued to destroy everything that got in their way.

But it was the sight at the far end of the street that caught Taz's eye. As the robots destroyed buildings and the terrified people ran down into the alleyways, desperately trying to get away from the terror, a gap cleared in the crowd and Taz could see about twenty Starship Rangers slowly making their way towards the robots. They worked methodically, shooting from behind cover and steadily making their way down the street, covering each other as they took it in turns to progress to the next pile of rubble to hide behind.

Taz took a moment to admire them, the way that they shot at the robots from behind cover, then leaping out and charging forwards. They were fearless.

Taz spotted Hugo, the smart clothes he'd been wearing as torn as her own dress, a metal pole in his hands. He charged at one of the robots, impaling it on the rod, before vaulting over a smashed up cart and joining the rest of the Starship Rangers. One of them, a muscly brown haired man, clapped him on the back, before tossing him his own zapper, picking up a spare from a body at his feet.

Taz was so enthralled by the Starship Rangers that she didn't notice the robots bearing down on her until one of them plucked her off the ground. As she yelled and thrashed around in the air, as the robot carried her over to a tree, she reached out with both arms, taking the robots head between her hands. She knew it was useless, but she pulled at the robot's head, yelling insults at it.

'Let me go, you piece of shit!' she screamed as the robot hung her upside down from a tree.

'Pu-ny hu-man,' said the robot in its mechanical voice. 'You will die.'

'No, you will die, _hijo de puta_!'

Taz cried out in pain as the robot swung a heavy piece of metal at her, cracking it straight into her ribs.

'Is that all you got?' she yelled, flailing her arms around. The robot swung the metal rod again, but Taz was ready for it and took the full impact in her hands. Grimacing at the pain, she clung on the the rod as the robot tried to swing it back over its head for a third go, and Taz was pulled up with it. She heard her dress rip up the side, but she didn't care as she grabbed hold of the branch which her feet were tied to.

Taz curled herself around the branch, knowing it would protect her body as the robot swung the rod at her back. She used all of the strength in her upper arms to keep herself holding onto the branch as she attempted to untie her feet.

The robot hit her again just as she triumphed over one foot, but she had let her grip on the branch slip. Taz fell backwards, and yelled out in pain as the one leg still attached to the branch above her felt as though it had been torn out of its socket.

'Come here, you son of a bitch!' Taz didn't recognise the voice, but she heard zapper fire as she hung hopelessly from her left ankle. She tried desperately not to pass out, slapping herself around the face when she could feel her vision going.

'Alright, sweetheart,' growled the rough voice, speaking English. 'Let's get you cut down.'

Taz could see someone hacking at the rope around her ankle with a knife, and she felt herself falling through the air. She expected a hard landing on the floor, but her saviour caught her. She was aware of being pressed against his warm chest and she looked up at his face for the first time.

It was the brown haired ranger who'd given his gun to Hugo. Taz wanted to say something, perhaps a word of thanks for saving her, or maybe even shout at him until he put her down, but she was too battered and exhausted to get anything out.

'You took quite a beating there,' he said. 'Can you stand?'

'I can try,' Taz croaked. The lieutenant put her down and helped her to her feet. After one tentative step, Taz stumbled, her leg giving out beneath her as a sharp pain shot through her from her hip.

'I'll carry you,' he said, and Taz felt herself being hoisted up onto his back in a piggyback.

'Put me down!' said Taz, clawing at his face as he began to jog away from the battle still going on.

'I'm taking you to safety.'

'What about the robots?'

'The other rangers are taking care of them.'

Taz felt her vision start to cloud at the edges.

'What about _mi mama_?'

'I'm sure your mom is just fine.'

And that was the last that Taz remembered before she passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to _dance-sing-live_ for being the first reviewer and also to all of you who started following this story!

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**Chapter 2**

Taz awoke in an unfamiliar bed in a room that she didn't recognise. She was aware that most of her body seemed to be throbbing in various degrees of pain, and she had vague memories of the chaos at the party.

Taz attempted to sit up, but yelled out as a horrible pain shot through her ribs.

'Good, you're awake.'

Taz saw that the man that had rescued her was sitting beside her bed, a wound in his arm being stitched up by a doctor. Taz took a moment to look at him properly for the first time.

She could tell just from his appearance that he was tough. His arms and chest were muscly and straining the shirt that he wore, the shirt of a Starship Ranger. He had light brown hair and a moustache on his upper lip, and the bits of his flesh that she could see were covered in battle scars.

'Who are you?' she demanded.

'I don't get a thank you for saving your life?' he teased.

'Who are you?' Taz repeated.

'I'm Lieutenant Up.'

'Up?' Taz wore a look of confusion in her face. 'What the hell kind of name is that?'

Up ignored her comment.

'How are you feeling?'

'Like I've been ripped into tiny pieces and then put back together again in the wrong order,' said Taz.

'Well, if I hadn't got to you when I did, that's probably what the robots would have done to you!' laughed Up. 'Do you remember what happened?'

'The Quinceañera ... the robots ... they hung me from a tree ... you ...' Taz screwed up her face, trying to remember. 'You cut me down from the tree. I don't remember anything else.'

'You passed out on my back,' explained Up. 'I carried you out of harm's way and brought you on board our starship. You're in the medical centre.'

'I'm on a real starship?' asked Taz, gazing around at the room she was on in awe. Beds lined both walls, and wounded people lay in many of the beds. 'Are we flying?'

'Not at the moment,' replied Up. 'The doctors are checking over the casualties, and making sure the survivors are okay. When it's safe for you all to go back to your homes, we'll leave Mexico.'

'Survivors?' asked Taz. 'How many survived?'

'About twenty from the whole village, including you,' said Up. 'The robots did a damn good job of wreaking havoc.'

'Mama,' said Taz, worried. 'Is my mama okay?'

'I don't know, kid,' frowned Up. 'When you're a bit better, we'll go and see if she's with the survivors.'

'I want to go now!' shouted Taz, trying to get out of bed. 'Take me there now!'

Taz thrashed around in the sheets, and would have fallen out of bed if Up hadn't lunged and caught her. He sat her back up against the headboard.

'You listen to me,' he said firmly. 'Those robots gave you hell. They broke three of your ribs, dislocated your hip and gave you some scars that are gonna be there for a long time. It's a dead-goddamn miracle they didn't kill you. So you're going to stay in that bed until you're well enough to walk without causing yourself anymore harm, understand?'

'But mi mama!' protested Taz.

'What's your mother's name?' asked Up.

'Rosa,' said Taz. 'Rosa Santiago.'

'I'll send one of the ensigns to see if she's with the survivors,' said Up.

'Thank you,' muttered Taz, sniffing and looking down at the sheets. She didn't know what it was about Lieutenant Up, but he had a way of making her calm down. With anyone else, Taz would have thrown a tantrum until they'd taken her straight to find her mother.

A memory of the previous day flashed through her mind, a memory of Hugo taking down a robot with a metal pole, then Up giving him his own zapper.

'Hugo,' breathed Taz.

Up's head snapped up sharply.

'What was that you said?'

'Hugo,' repeated Taz. 'Where is Hugo?'

Up glanced at the doctor stitching up his arm and Taz noticed the look that passed between them.

'What do you know about Hugo?' yelled Taz. Up remained quiet. 'Tell me what's happened to mi hermano, you idiota!'

'Hugo was your brother?' asked Up, his eyebrows shooting up.

'Was? What do you mean 'was'? What has happened to Hugo? He can't be dead!'

Taz blinked back the tears that formed in her eyes, letting out a frustrated yell.

'Lieutenant,' said the doctor stitching Up's wounds. 'It's not good for her to get this angry.'

'Haven't you got an anaesthetic to knock her out or something?' asked Up.

Taz picked up a lamp from the bedside table and hurled it at Up. It might have hit him had her aim been better, but her arm was bandaged up and made it harder for her to throw.

'An anaesthetic would mix with the painkillers we've already given her,' said the doctors. 'It's unadvisable. She could fall into a coma.'

'Tell me what happened to Hugo!' growled Taz. 'Is he dead?'

'No,' said Up, looking down at his knees.

'Don't lie to me!' shouted Taz.

'I'm not!' protested Up. 'He's not dead ... yet.'

'What do you mean 'yet'?' demanded Taz.

'The robots got him and they ... he lost a leg,' explained Up. 'He lost a lot of blood and passed out, so we brought him here, but there's not much we can do. He's losing the battle.'

The tears were falling from Taz's eyes. She couldn't keep up the tough girl attitude any longer, not if her brother was dying, not if she was about to lose the only member of her family who'd ever understood how much she wanted to be a Starship Ranger.

'I can't lose him,' sobbed Taz. 'I can't.'

The doctor had finished stitching Up's arm and cut the thread, and Up stood up and took the couple of steps to Taz's bed. He sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

'I'm sorry. He was a brave soldier. He will die as a hero.'

'I don't want him to die as a hero,' cried Taz. 'I don't want him to die.'

Up gently rubbed Taz's arm, rocking her gently.

'Can I see him?' she asked, using her hands to wipe away the tears staining her cheeks.

'Can she?' Up asked the doctor, and Taz looked hopefully at him.

'Please?' she begged. 'Just one more time.'

'Go on then,' said the doctor reluctantly. 'I'll get her a wheelchair.'

'No need,' said Up, getting to his feet. 'I'll carry her.'

Up pulled back the sheets covering Taz and lifted her effortlessly into his arms.

'Where is he?' asked Taz, as Up carried her along the ward, past other people lying injured in beds.

'He's at the end,' said Up. 'He's got a private room.'

Up pushed open the door at the end of the ward and carried Taz inside. He set her down on a chair next to the bed.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that lay in front of her. Hugo's face was pale, almost as if her was a ghost, and his skin was covered in scars. His left leg was a stump just above the knee and the bandages and bedsheets were stained with blood, the sight making Taz want to throw up. There were tubes up his nose and sticking into his hand, feeding him some kind of medicine.

'Hugo,' breathed Taz.

'Is there any way to wake him up, just so his sister can talk to him one final time?' Taz heard Up ask one of the doctors monitoring Hugo.

'We can give him a small shock and see if that wakes him,' replied the doctor.

'Do it,' nodded Up.

The doctor picked up something that looked a little bit like a taser gun and pointed it at Hugo's chest. He pulled the trigger and a little spark of electricity pulsed through it, causing Hugo to stir slightly. He opened his eyes slowly, barely half a centimetre wide.

'Taz?' he croaked.

'Oh, Hugo,' sobbed Taz.

'We'll leave you alone,' said Up, and he and the doctors left the little room.

'I'm dying, aren't I?' said Hugo, his voice barely audible.

Taz nodded slowly, trying her hardest not to cry in front of her big brother.

'At least I'm going to have died for a good cause,' said Hugo, the tiniest trace of a smile on his pale features.

'I don't want you to go,' sobbed Taz. 'I don't want to lose you.'

'You won't lose me,' said Hugo. 'I'll always be inside your heart.'

Taz couldn't stop the tears from flowing freely down her cheeks anymore, her chest heaving with each sob.

'One day you're going to make a great Starship Ranger, Tazzy,' said Hugo. 'You go out there and make me proud. I know you're going to get the job done.'

Taz smiled through her tears at another reference from Hugo to the games they played together as children.

'And stick with Lieutenant Up,' said Hugo. 'He's a good man. One of the greatest men I know. I know he'll take care of you.'

'I love you Hugo,' cried Taz.

'I love you too, Tazzy.'

The door opened a tiny bit and Up poked his head inside. 'Can I come in?' he asked tentatively.

Taz nodded and Up entered the room, the doctors following him.

'It was a pleasure to serve alongside you, soldier,' Up said to Hugo, and Taz thought she heard a little crack in the lieutenant's voice.

Hugo merely nodded. 'Look after Taz for me, Up,' he croaked.

Up stood up straight and gave Hugo a salute.

'Go, Taz,' said Hugo, his voice barely a whisper. 'I don't want you here when I ... when it happens.'

'I love you Hugo,' said Taz, as Up lifted her back into his arms. She leaned against his chest, letting the sobs take over her body as she took one final look at her brother before Up carried her out of the room.

He lay her back down on her own bed and tucked the sheets around her.

'I'm sorry,' he said.

'It's not your fault,' sniffed Taz.

'I should have protected him.'

'He died as a Starship Ranger. He's happy.'

'You get some sleep,' Up told her, kissing the top of her forehead lightly. 'We'll talk about what happens next when you're well rested.'

Taz felt strangely comforted knowing that the tough Starship Ranger would be at her bedside as she slept, and it was this that caused her to feel safe as she eventually cried herself to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Taz woke up again, her body wasn't hurting as much, but her joints felt stiff and it was hard for her to breathe, as if something was restricting her lungs. Ignoring the pain in her chest, she sat up, looking around.

The ward was emptier, with fewer doctors than before and Taz noticed that quite a few of the patients that had been occupying the other beds had been discharged. When her eyes fell on the door that led the room that Hugo had been in, her heart gave an almighty wrench, and her eyes stung once more, but Taz was determined not to cry. She was going to be tough, for Hugo.

Up was still sitting in a chair beside her bed, and Taz felt a strange rush of affection for the man that she barely knew. He hadn't moved since she'd fallen asleep, and he'd drifted off in the chair himself, his neck in what looked like an uncomfortable position.

Up looked much different when he was sleeping to when he was awake. He still had the same tough, battle-worn exterior, but there was a look of innocence on his face, and Taz could tell he was still a young man, put through mug more than most men his age.

'It's not polite to watch people while they're sleeping.' Taz jumped as Up spoke softly. He opened his eyes and stretched in the chair, wincing as he cricked his neck.

'Sorry,' muttered Taz, looking away.

'I'm just kidding,' said Up. 'How are you feeling?'

'Better,' said Taz. 'I don't hurt as much, but it's harder to breathe than normal.'

'That'll be the swelling in your chest from the broken ribs,' explained Up. 'But that's not what I meant. How are you feeling about ... you know, after...'

Up's eyes flitted to the door of Hugo's room.

'Like I'm completely empty inside,' admitted Taz, shocking herself. She never usually admitted how she felt to anyone. It was all part of the tough exterior she put on. The only person she'd ever confessed how she really felt about things to was Hugo, and now he was gone. Yet she felt safe with Lieutenant Up. She knew he'd never do anything to hurt her.

'I know,' nodded Up.

'No, you don't know!' Taz raised her voice. 'He was my brother. He was the only thing I had. You don't know what it's like! You don't know how I feel!'

Taz brushed away her tears, turning away from Up and crossing her arms in a childish sulk.

'He was one of my friends,' said Up quietly. 'I miss him too. The starship won't be the same without him. He was always the one goofing around, making sure we all had a good time, even when we thought we were about to die. But he was also a damn good soldier and he knew that he always had to get the job done.'

'I miss him Up.'

'I miss him too.'

There was a silence between them, but it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. Taz knew that they were both reminiscing happy memories that they had with Hugo.

Taz was the first one to speak.

'Mi mama?'

Up looked down at his lap guiltily. 'I sent one of the ensigns to the survivors. There wasn't a Rosa Santiago there.'

Taz just nodded. She'd been expecting the worst. She knew she should probably be more upset about it than she was, but she'd never got on with her mother that well anyway. After Hugo's death, she felt numb to everything else.

'What happens now?' Taz asked.

'Another starship was sent over from the Academy. Together we're working on rebuilding the village in a safer place. When it's finished, you'll all go back to living there.'

'I don't have anyone left to live with,' said Taz. 'My stepfather hates me and he won't want me to live with him. What's going to happen to me?'

'Don't you have an older sister?' asked Up, looking confused.

'No,' frowned Taz. 'Who gave you that idea?'

'Hugo,' said Up, the puzzled expression still on his face. 'He said it was his sister's Quinceañera. Can't you stay with her?'

'That was me, you _idiota_!' Taz rolled her eyes. 'Yesterday was my Quinceañera!'

'You're fifteen?' asked Up, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.

'_Si_!'

'I thought you were younger,' said Up, blushing. 'Why, you only look about eleven.' Taz glared at him. 'Maybe twelve at a push,' he added sheepishly.

Taz crossed her arms once more an pouted.

'So,' said Up, suddenly changing the subject. 'Your name's Taz, right?'

'_Si_,' sulked Taz.

'What the hell kind of name is that?' teased Up, mimicking Taz's accent from when she'd said the same thing to him the previous day.

'Hey!' shouted Taz.

'Just messing with you,' smirked Up, winking at her.

'It's not my real name, _idiota_,' Taz rolled her eyes. 'It's just a nickname.'

'I'll let you into a secret,' said Up. 'Up ain't my real name either.'

'Then what is?' asked Taz, leaning forwards with intrigue.

'I'll tell you if you tell me yours,' grinned Up.

'I asked first!' argued Taz.

'Well, I'm not telling you.'

'I'm not telling you either!'

They both sat and sulked for a moment before Up spoke again.

'To tell you the truth, the last time anybody ever called me by my real name was the day my family died,' admitted Up.

'I'm sorry,' said Taz. It seemed like the only appropriate thing to say. 'The last time anyone called me by my real name was the day _my_ family died,' she said, realising it was true. 'And that's the way it's going to stay.'

'Looks like that's one thing me and you have in common, eh, Taz?'

'Up, can I join the Academy?' Taz asked suddenly.

'The Starship Ranger Academy?'

'Which other Academy?' asked Taz, rolling her eyes at Up. 'Yes, the Starship Ranger Academy.'

'You can't...' started Up.

'Please?' begged Taz. 'I've got nowhere else to go.'

'The official age for joining is eighteen,' said Up. 'The Head of the Galactic League makes special exceptions sometimes, but...'

'Well, get him to make an exception for me then,' growled Taz, crawling further down the bed and sitting on her knees right in front of Up.

'The exceptions are very rare,' said Up. 'Normally they're over sixteen, and all boys. I mean, you're a girl, and you're tiny and...'

Up never got to finish that sentence because Taz threw herself off the bed at him. She winced as a sharp pain shot through her ribs, but ignored it as she knocked a startled Up to the floor. Somehow, she'd managed to pull his knife out of his belt, and she sat straddling him with the silver blade pressed against his throat.

'I may be little, but that doesn't mean I'm not a tough son of a bitch,' Taz spat in Up's face.

'Taz, get off me,' sighed Up. He didn't look concerned about the knife at his throat in the slightest.

'Not until you take back what you said,' growled Taz.

'Taz, I don't want to have to go through this.'

'Take it back,' Taz yelled.

'Well, you can't say I didn't warn you,' said Up, and Taz had a brief second to wonder what he meant by his before she found herself being suddenly flipped over. Her back was pressed to the floor and Up was above her, supporting all of his weight on his arms so that he didn't crush her. The blade was now at Taz's throat.

'I'm not going to hurt you,' said Up, getting to his feet and lifting Taz back onto the bed. 'But any Ranger who'd pulled a stunt like that would have found this knife embedded in their leg.'

Taz turned away from Up and sulked.

'Taz, I'm not saying you can't be a Starship Ranger,' sighed Up. 'Just wait until you're older. When you're eighteen, come back to the Academy and we'll train you properly. You'll struggle now, but when you've grown a bit, you'll make one of the best Starship Rangers the Academy has ever seen. I can tell you that right now. You're right, you are a tough son of a bitch, and one day you'll be a tough Ranger. Just not yet, okay?'

Taz ignored him.

'I'm going to go and speak to my Commander now,' said Up. 'Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone.'

Taz remained silent, not even looking at Up as he got up and left.

As soon as Up had left her, Taz knew that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. There was no way that she was going to spend another three years in Mexico, surrounded by reminders of how her mother and brother had died.

As a doctor came over to her and examined her, giving her more painkillers, checking up on her broken ribs and giving her a crutch to practise walking with, Taz's mind was elsewhere. A plan was already formulating in her head, one which involved stowing away somewhere on the starship so that they unintentionally took her back to the Academy with her, hopefully leaving them with no choice but to enrol her and begin her training immediately.

When the doctor had finished the check-up, Taz begun to evaluate her situation. She knew it would probably be easier to wait until night fell, when there would be less people around and easier to make an escape from the medical centre, but she wanted to be gone before Up got back. Taz knew it would be harder to get away when he was around to keep an eye on her.

There were three doctors and half a dozen patients still on the ward, and it would be nearly impossible for Taz to walk straight out of the main doors without a least one of them noticing.

Something above Taz's bed caught her eye, a small metal grill with screws holding each corner in place. She smiled, realising that it was covering a ventilation pipe and she knew that this was her way out. The one above Taz's own bed would be visible for everyone to see her climbing into, but she realised that there would probably be one in the bathroom too.

Taz slid her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, picking up the crutch that the doctor had left for her. Her legs were sore and her hip had a dull throbbing in it from where it had been dislocated it, so she hobbled in the direction of the bathroom.

'Just going to the bathroom,' she explained, when one of the doctors gave her a questioning look, and the doctor nodded and continued tending to their patient.

By a stroke of luck, one of the doctors had left a case of their medical instruments lying about beside one of the beds near the bathroom, and realising that she'd need something to undo the screws on the metal grill, she took a pointy looking instrument that would so perfectly for a makeshift screwdriver.

One inside the small bathroom, Taz locked the door so that she wouldn't be interrupted and caught out, stood the crutch up against the door and looked around for a ventilation pipe. Sighing with relief, Taz spotted one up by the ceiling, but cursed her height when she realised that she wouldn't be able to reach it. Taz slowly climbed up onto the toilet seat, using it as a stepping stone to stand on the rim of the sink, where she found she could just reach the grill.

Taz pulled the sharp instrument out from where she'd tucked it in one of the frills of the dirty pink dress that she still wore, and carefully began to undo the screws in each corner. When she'd done it, she removed the grill as quietly as she could, climbed down from the sink and laid it on the floor.

Taz picked up the crutch and climbed back onto the sink via the toilet seat. She pushed the crutch into the ventilation shaft, knowing that at least if she didn't use it to help her walk, it would make a good weapon if somebody tried to stop her.

Using all the strength she could muster in her arms, Taz hoisted herself up into the small ventilation pipe. For the first time in her life, Taz found herself thanking dead-god she was this small, because if she'd been much bigger, she wouldn't have been able to fit.

Pushing the crutch ahead of her, Taz slowly began to wriggle forwards along the pipe on her stomach.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you to everyone who has left a review so far. It's great to get such nice comments! :)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

'A fifteen year-old girl, you say?' Commander Hutchinson asked.

'Yes, Commander,' nodded Up. 'Please, sir, she's got nowhere else to go. Her family died in yesterday's attack.'

'We don't usually let people join the Academy until they're at least sixteen, and they're normally boys. Tough ones too.'

'I started when I was seventeen,' said Up.

'But you're ... you're you, Up,' said Commander Hutchinson. 'You're one of the toughest Rangers ever to go through the Academy.'

'Taz is tough,' said Up. 'I've only known her a day, but she's got fire in her blood. She won't stop until she's got what she wants, and right now, all she wants is to become a Starship Ranger.'

'She might be tough, but she's still far too young to be able to cope with the training,' Hutchinson said. 'You know how hard it is, even for the boys who start when they're eighteen. She won't make it through.'

'Then I'll give her extra private coaching so that she does make it through,' said Up firmly.

'You seem to have a lot of faith in the girl, considering you've known her a day,' snorted Hutchinson.

'Commander, I know talent when I see it. Mark my words, Taz is going to go far.'

'Perhaps if she comes back when she's eighteen,' said Hutchinson. 'She can start with all of the other cadets the same age as her.'

'Then at least let her stay on the starship with us until then,' pleaded Up. 'She's got nowhere else to go.'

'You're suggesting we carry an untrained child around with us everywhere we go for the next three years?' asked Hutchinson, incredulously.

'Well, let's take her back to the Academy and she can live there,' begged Up. 'She can stay there until she's ready to start training.'

'The Academy is not going to become a refuge for orphans, Up,' said Hutchinson sternly.

'Please, Commander?'

'Why do you care so much about this girl's welfare anyway?'

Up looked down at the ground. 'She's Hugo's sister,' mumbled Up.

'Hugo Lopez? The one who died last night?'

Up nodded. 'His last words to me we're asking me to look after Taz for him. It's my fault Hugo died. I should have covered his back. I owe it to Hugo to keep his sister safe.'

'Very well lieutenant,' said Hutchinson, eventually, and Up looked up hopefully. 'We'll take her back to the Academy and I'll see if I can pull a few strings to get her to stay there. I'm sure I can find her a tutor to give her a high school education over the next couple of years, and when she's eighteen she can start training. If she's as tough as you say she is, maybe we'll put her through the early entry recruitment tests when she's seventeen.'

'Thank you, Commander,' grinned Up. 'You won't regret it.'

'I'd better not. She's your responsibility until we get to the Academy. If she puts one foot out of line, she's out.'

'I under...'

With a spark of electricity, the lights went out and the Commander's office was plunged into darkness. After a couple of seconds, the backup fuse came into power, and the dim emergency lights came on.

'What the hell was that?' asked Up.

The unmistakeable sound of zapper fire could be heard in the distance.

'Not more robots,' groaned the Commander. 'Up, I want you to go and defend the medical centre. I'll lead the ensigns in holding the robots away from the starship.'

Up pulled his zapper out of the holster at his hip as he ran down the corridors of the starship towards the medical centre. He would never forgive himself if the robots got there first and he broke his promise to Hugo by letting something bad happen to Taz.

Up charged into the medical centre, where the doctors were looking anxious, wondering why the lights had powered out.

'Robots,' explained Up gruffly. 'Barricade the doors and keep everyone safe. I'm going to hold them off from the outside.'

Up turned to Taz's bed, and was shocked to see it was empty. He grabbed the nearest doctor roughly by his shirt collar and shoved him hard against the wall.

'Where's she gone?' he demanded.

'Who?' squeaked the doctor, finding it hard to breath with Up's big hand around his throat.

'Taz,' growled Up.

'Bathroom,' replied the doctor, and Up let him fall to he floor. He walked quickly over to the bathroom door and hammered on it.

'Taz, you in there?' he shouted. There was no reply to be banged knocked again. 'Taz?' Up tugged at the handle but the door was locked. 'Taz, if you're in there and you can hear me, get away from the door!'

Up pointed his zapper at the lock and with two quick shots, the handle blasted off the door. Up charged at the door with his shoulder and tumbled into the bathroom as it came crashing down.

The first thing his eyes fell on in the empty bathroom was the grill lying on the floor with the screws and the makeshift screwdriver.

'Oh Taz,' groaned Up. 'What the hell have you done now?'

* * *

Taz knew as soon as she pulled herself out of the other end of the ventilation pipe and dropped to the floor painfully that there was something not quite right on the starship. For a start, the emergency lights were on, giving just a dim glow, but it was only when Taz heard the now familiar zapper fire that she knew the starship was actually under attack.

'Stupid robots,' she muttered under her breath, picking the crutch up of the floor, putting it under her arm and using it to help her hobble along.

Taz had two choices. She could continue with her original plan of finding a little hiding spot somewhere on the starship and hoping that nobody would find her until they set off for the Academy, or she could follow the sound of the zapper fire and join in the fight. Any normal person in Taz's situation would go for the first option. With her injuries, not to mention the fact that her only weapon was the crutch that was helping her to walk and that she'd had no training in how to fight, other than the fistfights on the rundown streets of Mexico, there was no doubt that it was a stupid idea for her to attempt to help the Starship Rangers kill the robots.

But there was no way that Taz was going to let the robots get away with what they'd done. Two of her immediate family members had lost their lives at the hands of the robots in the last couple of days, including the brother that had meant more to her than anybody else, not to mention all of her aunts, uncles, relatives and friends who'd died at the Quinceañera. Taz was determined not to let any more names be added to the list of casualties, and it was with this thought that she hobbled as fast as she could towards the sounds of the raging battle.

* * *

Up raced around the corner and saw the first signs of the robots. Three ensigns were attempting to take down one, while Commander Hutchinson had the second one all to himself. Up aimed his zapper and cleanly shot the first one in the neck, sending its head spinning away into the wall, sparks flying. The ensigns finished off the body with a few well-placed shots in the chest, disabling the robot's movement functions, and together, the four of them helped kill the second robot too.

'What happened to defending the medical bay?' panted Hutchinson, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

'I told them to barricade themselves inside and left a couple of the privates standing outside,' said Up. 'I told them I'd make it my personal job to make their lives hell from now on if they left their stations and they seemed scared enough to stay there.'

'I gave you the order to protect it,' said Hutchinson, as the pair of them jogged around the corner towards the rest of the battle. They ducked down behind the large remains of a dead robot, using it as a barricade as they shot a couple more robots down.

'I delegated,' said Up, vaulting over the robot and moving further down the corridor.

'Let your thrill for excitement get the better of you again?' asked Hutchinson.

'No,' replied Up. 'Taz has gone missing.'

'Lost your little pet?'

'Commander, the robots have got into the room where we were looking after the survivors!' said an ensign, running over to Hutchinson and Up. 'We're trying to hold them off, but we need back-up. We're running out of men.'

'Bloody hell!' muttered Hutchinson.

'Hey, soldier!' Up called after the ensign, and he turned back to them.

'Yes, lieutenant?'

'Have you seen a girl in a pink dress anywhere?' asked Up. 'Dark hair, bad temper, about this tall.' Up held his hand at just below his own shoulder height to show how tall Taz was.

'Sorry sir,' the ensign shook his head.

'Did you say a pink dress?'

Up turned around to see another ensign.

'Yeah. Have you seen her?'

'There's a small girl in a ripped pink dress just down there,' said the ensign, pointing behind him towards where the sounds of the main battle was coming from. 'She's yelling at the robots in Spanish and hitting them with a crutch.'

'That's Taz, alright,' said Up, and he took off down the corridor towards the fight.

The room where they'd been looking after the survivors was in total carnage. There were bodies strewn over the floor, both humans and robots alike. Up shot down a robot that made a swing for his head and ducked under the laser of another, shooing its arm off so that it couldn't use its weapon again.

It was then that he caught sight of Taz. If they hadn't been in such immediate danger, he probably would have laughed at the sight ahead of him. Taz was ducking the lasers of a robot three times the size of her, using her light body to jump nimbly out of the way as it swung its arms clumsily at her. But what was more amusing was the fact that she was fending this robot off with nothing but a wooden crutch from the medical centre.

Up watched in awe as she threw herself at the robot, clinging desperately around its neck and hitting it repeatedly over the head with the crutch, until its head exploded in a shower of sparks, sending Taz flying back to the ground.

Up ran over to her and helped her to her feet.

'You're in a lot of trouble, missy,' he growled. 'Get out of here and get to safety.'

Up turned his back on her and aimed his zapper at a robot, knocking it to the floor.

'No!' he heard Taz shout.

Up turned back to face her and gripped her arm firmly. 'I'm giving you and order, Taz. Do as I say.'

'You're not my lieutenant,' Taz replied indignantly.

'And you're not a Starship Ranger. Take as many of the other survivors as you can and get out.'

'The other survivors have already gone,' said Taz. 'I ordered some of the ensigns to take them to the medical centre.'

'You ordered the...'

Up had forgotten that they were standing in the middle of a war zone and was cut off as a robot swung an enormous rod at Up's head. He ducked just in time, feeling it just brush the ends of his spiky hair.

He looked up to see Taz let out an animalistic yell and plunge the end of her crutch straight into the wires of the robot's chest. The robot twitched for a couple of seconds, before exploding.

'See,' said Taz, raising her eyebrows at Up. 'I can handle myself.'

'Now you've got no weapon,' pointed out Up. The crutch was firmly embedded in the robot's chest and no matter how hard Taz tried, she couldn't dislodge it.

There was an enormous crash and they both suddenly looked around as one of the metal walls to the room crashed down. As the smoke cleared, a giant robot, bigger than all the others, marched into the room.

'Damn,' muttered Up. 'That must be the leader.'

'If we take him down, we win this fight,' said Taz. She started moving towards the robot, which was fighting off two ensigns and a private with ease, but Up grabbed her wrist to stop her.

'What are you thinking?' he asked her, pleading with his eyes. 'You can't just take down the leader on your own.'

'I won't be on my own if you help me,' retorted Taz.

'Taz, stay out of this.'

'No!'

Taz pulled her arm out of Up's grip and ran over to the robot leader.

'Hey, you metal _cabrón_!' Taz yelled at it. 'Is that all you got? Come and get me!'

As the robot made a swung for her, Taz jumped up in the air, landing on top of the robot's arm, which lifted her high in the air. Up watched in horror as the robot tried to swing her off. Taz's eyes were closed as she held on for dear life, her arms and legs wrapped around the robot's metal plated arm like a monkey would hang from a tree.

'Taz!' Up shouted, running over there. He crouched down and aimed his gun at the robot, but the process of trying to get rid of Taz was causing it to move around too much and he didn't know if he'd get a clean shot.

'Shoot it while it's distracted!' Taz yelled.

'I can't!' shouted Up. 'It's moving too much! I might hit you!'

'Just shoot the metal bastard! Don't worry about me!'

The robot finally triumphed, and Taz's grip slipped, causing her to be flung across the room. Up heard her yell of fear and she flew over his head, but he took the first opportunity for a clean shot at the robot, aiming a full round at its chest from his zapper. After a couple of twitches, the robot collapsed to the floor, the wiring in its chest fused from the zapper fire.

Up got to his feet, and ran over to where Taz's lifeless body lay on the floor a few metres behind him, leaving the other Rangers to take care of the few robots that were fleeing the scene now that their leader was dead.

'Taz!' Up shook Taz's limp body. Blood was pouring out of a cut on her head, and her hands and legs were torn to shreds from where she'd been clinging onto the robot. Her ankle was twisted at a funny position, and though she was still breathing, her heartbeat was weak.

Without a second thought, Up picked her up in his arms and raced to the medical centre.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to _dance-sing-live_, _Crazy-Obsessed-Writer52_,_ gypsy rosalie_, _RazMaster _and _almostlover-hopelessdream_ who have all reviewed this story so far!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Taz woke up in the familiar bed in the medical centre in a lot more pain than the previous time. Her head felt like there was an angry drummer inside it, banging away at her brain, and her ankle was throbbing in an unpleasantly painful way.

'I might look into keeping this bed reserved especially for you,' joked a familiar voice. 'You seem to be making a habit out of this.'

'I feel dead,' moaned Taz, not even attempting to move so that she could see Up's face.

'I was scared you were for a moment the other day,' admitted Up.

'The other day? How long was I out?'

'The robot attack on this starship was five days ago,' Up told her. 'It's been a week since we met.'

'I was asleep for five days?'

'You woke up occasionally, screaming,' said Up. 'Nightmares, I think. We moved you into one of the private rooms for a few days so that you didn't disturb the other patients. You didn't wake up once last night though, so we moved you back out here.'

'If we're still alive, I guess you killed that _idiota_.'

'The robot? Yeah. I wouldn't have done it without you though. You distracted it for me.' There was an awkward silence. 'Thanks, I guess,' said Up, softly.

Taz slowly moved, trying to sit up, but yelled out as a spasm of pain shot through her ankle.

'Let me help you,' said Up, moving closer to help her sit up in the bed.

'What's wrong with me this time?' asked Taz, as Up resumed his position in the chair beside Taz's bed.

'The robot threw you through the air and you landed awkwardly,' Up told her. 'It did nothing for your broken ribs, in fact I think you fractured a couple more. You cut your head, which is why you've got a bandage on.'

Taz reached up and felt that there was indeed a bandage around her head.

'Oh, and you broke your ankle,' finished Up. 'Fortunately for me, the cast is too big to fit through any ventilation pipes.' He wore a teasing smirk on his face. Taz knew that she should probably apologise, but she was too stubborn for that. 'Was there any reason behind the escape, or were you just thrill-seeking?'

'I was going to hide somewhere on the starship,' admitted Taz, avoiding Up's eyes. 'By the time you found me, we'd already be on the way to the Academy.'

'You escaped hospital so that we wouldn't leave you behind in Mexico?' laughed Up and Taz nodded. 'Oh, Taz. If only you'd waited, and you wouldn't have had that problem.'

'What do you mean?' asked Taz, confused.

'When I went to see the Commander, it was to ask if you could come back to the Academy with us. He eventually agreed, but only if you had a proper high school education until you were eighteen, then you could join the Academy. He said if you worked really hard, he'd consider you for early entry when you turned seventeen.'

'You mean I'm going to the Academy anyway?' asked Taz, brightly.

'Not to train, yet. But you can live there until you're old enough. You wouldn't have needed to pull off that ridiculous escape and you wouldn't be lying there with all those injuries right now.'

'And I wouldn't have distracted the robot so you could kill it,' said Taz stubbornly.

Up furrowed his brow as I'd considering this for a moment, but didn't comment. 'Anyway, I said I'd call the Commander when you woke up. I think he wants to speak to you.'

A few minutes later, a man wearing the grey uniform of a commander entered the ward. He was a tall man, maybe a couple of inches taller than Up, but of a similar muscular build.

'Lieutenant,' said the commander to Up.

'Commander Hutchinson,' said Up, getting to his feet.

'So, where's our young war hero?' asked Hutchinson, clapping his hands together and looking around expectantly.

'Commander, I'd like you to meet Taz,' said Up, gesturing to the bed where Taz lay. 'Taz, this is Commander Hutchinson.'

'This is it?' asked Hutchinson, looking down at Taz with an unimpressed look on his face. 'Up, I thought you said she was tough.'

'I am tough,' said Taz halfheartedly. If she wasn't aching all over she might have had the energy to argue with the Commander, but right now she really couldn't be bothered.

'I know you told me she was only fifteen, but I was expecting her to be ... well, bigger and...'

'Don't underestimate her, Commander,' said Up. 'It was making a comment like that the other day which found me lying beneath her with a knife at my throat. She's got a fiery temper when she gets going.'

'She looks like she could barely hurt a fly,' frowned Hutchinson.

'Commander, you're lucky I'm injured,' said Taz.

'And why is that?'

'Because if I wasn't, I'd rip your stupid head off.'

'Taz!' hissed Up. 'You can't speak to a senior soldier like that.'

'He's not my senior soldier. I'm not a Starship Ranger.'

'Not yet,' said Hutchinson. 'Taz, I've spoken to several of my men, Lieutenant Up included, and they all speak very highly of your actions when the robots attacked the starship. From what I've heard, it was you who ordered the evacuation of the survivors, saving all their lives, then took on the robots yourself, before almost giving up your own life in order to give Up the opportunity to kill the leader.'

'You speak like I'm a hero,' said Taz.

'In the eyes of most of the rangers who witnessed your actions, you are a hero. You saved us all that day. You acted bravely and selflessly.'

'Actually,' interrupted Taz, 'I did it because killing robots is fun.'

Taz saw Up roll his eyes, but the Commander just nodded and smiled. 'We need more rangers like you, Taz. With a desire to kill robots, you're already halfway there to becoming a better ranger than most of the ensigns we've got at the moment. And Up seems to think you have potential.'

'She does,' nodded Up in agreement.

'Taz, I'd like to offer you a provisional place at the Academy, starting in three months' time with the next group of cadets,' said Hutchinson. 'Obviously, we'll have to put you through the early entry recruitment tests, but providing you pass those, you could begin training to become a Starship Ranger in September.'

'Are you serious?' asked Taz, her excitement causing her to completely forget about her injuries.

'You're letting her in this year?' asked Up, sounding equally surprised. 'I thought you said she was too young and that she'd never make it through.'

'I think she is too young, but the evidence I've been given tells me she'll get through,' said Hutchinson. 'I'll reserve judgement until I've actually seen her myself, but we losing more rangers than we're producing thanks to the robots. We need everyone we can get.'

'Are you absolutely sure about this?' Up asked.

'Lieutenant, are you not the one who came to me the other day begging me to let Taz join the Academy?' asked Hutchinson.

'Yes, but...'

'And have you changed your mind since then?'

'No he hasn't,' interjected Taz.

Up raised an eyebrow at her before saying, 'No I haven't.'

'Then Taz will take the tests as soon as she's recovered from her injuries,' said Hutchinson simply.

Taz's face split into a grin.

Hutchinson walked away from Taz's bed towards the door, but turned around to say something else. 'We finish moving the survivors into their new homes this afternoon,' he said. 'We'll leave for the Academy shortly afterwards. I'd like you up on the control deck then, Lieutenant. You can stay here until then, if you wish.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Hutchinson left the medical centre and Taz stared grinning again. Forgetting her injuries, she started singing, 'I'm gonna be a Starship Ranger! I'm gonna be a Starship Ranger!'

'He'd be proud of you, you know,' said Up, smiling gently.

'Hugo?'

Up nodded.

'Did you really beg the Commander to let me join the Academy?' smirked Taz.

'Well, I wouldn't say I begged, as such, but I put on all my persuasive charm...'

'You know Up, if I wasn't stuck in this stupid bed, I'd get over there and kiss you.'

'I hardly think that's appropriate,' teased Up, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

'I meant to thank you!' protested Taz, blushing.

'I know you did Taz. I'm only messing with you.'

'Thank you, Up.' It was the first time Taz had thanked Up for anything.

'What for?'

'Everything,' shrugged Taz, avoiding eye contact. 'Saving me from the robots. Getting me into the Academy. Staying by me while I'm stuck in here.' There was a pause before Taz added, 'Covering for Hugo so he could come to my Quinceañera.'

'What?'

'He told me his lieutenant covered for him so that he could visit me. I know now that was you now. If you hadn't, well, I wouldn't have seen him before ... before, you know ... he left.' Taz couldn't bring herself to say that he had died. 'I hadn't seen him in five years. So thank you.'

'You don't need to thank me,' said Up. 'I'm sure you'd have done the same if it was the other way around.'

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Taz knew that they were both thinking about Hugo.

'So,' said Up, clapping his hands together suddenly. 'What do you want to do? I've got a few hours until I'm needed up on the control deck.'

'I dunno,' shrugged Taz.

'I could get the doctors to bring in a television,' suggested Up. 'I've got some movies up in my room. What do you want to watch?'

'The Karate Kid is my favourite,' said Taz. 'Do you have that?'

'Only the old one, I'm afraid.'

'The Jackie Chan one?' smiled Taz.

'Yeah.'

'That's the good one!'

'You like the Jackie Chan version too?' asked Up.

'Yeah,' said Taz.

'Looks like we're watching The Karate Kid, then,' smiled Up, getting to his feet. 'I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't try any escape attempts while I'm gone.'

'I won't,' smirked Taz.

'I'll get the doctor to keep an eye on you just in case!' grinned Up.

* * *

Sorry that it's just a filler chapter, but the next one is longer and has more going on (I think! :P)

On another note, it's my birthday, and I'd love it if some of you left me a review as a birthday present! ;) Let me know what you think, I love getting feedback!


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you to everybody who has left a review. I love you all._

* * *

**Chapter 6**

It took them a week to get to the Academy. The journey should have taken a few days at most, but the starship was on its last legs after the robot attack.

Once back at the Academy, Taz was whisked straight off to the Galactic League Ambassador who ran the Academy, where Up and Commander Hutchinson put forward their case for getting Taz into the training program beginning in September. The Ambassador was reluctant at first, but when a couple of the ensigns were called in to confirm Taz's role in the fight against the robot, he reluctantly agreed that she could at least take the early entry tests when her ankle and ribs had mended.

After the meeting with the Ambassador, Up showed Taz to her room. It was only small, with a single bed pressed against one wall, a wardrobe and a desk against the other, and barely enough space to walk between the two.

'This is luxury compared to where you'll be staying when you're a cadet,' smirked Up, after seeing the look on Taz's face at how basic the room was. 'Cadets sleep in dorms. It's twenty cadets to a dorm, with bunk beds, a communal bathroom and no privacy. They split the dorms according to which area you're specialising in, and because the ratio of boys to girls is so high with most of the girls in one of the other divisions anyway, it's highly likely you'll be sharing a dorm with nineteen boys.'

'Can't I just stay in here?' asked Taz, having changed her mind about this room. She'd much rather sleep in a windowless box than in a room with nineteen other cadets, especially if they were all boys.

'Rules are rules,' Up shook his head. 'We've already bent enough of them to get you this far. The drop-out rate is high on the cadet course, though. A quarter of cadets drop out in the first two months, and only half make it to the end of the four years. With any luck, there'll only be fourteen others in your dorm by Christmas and about ten of you when you finish training.'

'Why do so many people drop out?' asked Taz.

'Because it's the toughest four years of your life,' replied Up simply. 'Trust me, watching a whole platoon get shot down in front of you is nothing compared to the Academy training. The point is, by the time you've graduated from the Academy, anything you do afterwards seems easy.'

'How do they make it so tough?'

'Mostly it's just the instructors,' explained Up. 'Their job is to push you to your limits and that's what they do. Commander Rose is the worst. He's the one who runs all of the fitness sessions, and he's most of the reason why so many cadets drop out in the first couple of months. He makes the first semester living hell for you all, with the sole purpose of making people who aren't up to the job quit training. If you make it past then, it generally gets a bit easier.

'Then there's the actual workload,' continued Up. 'You spend two hours a day in normal school, like languages, calculus and some science classes. You're then expected to do another two hours of homework every night, on top of extra training sessions if you fall behind in fitness and combat classes. Classes take place on a Saturday too, which means your only day off is Sunday. Commander Rose has a nasty habit of arranging punishments on Sundays, so you'd better keep your mouth shut and do everything he says if you want any free time.'

'He sounds like a charming man,' said Taz, her voice laced with sarcasm.

'He makes me look like a fairy princess,' laughed Up.

'I can handle him,' said Taz, full of certainty. 'I'm tough.'

'Being tough won't help you. He picks on the weak ones because it's easy, he picks on the tough ones even more to try and make them snap. Trust me, I know. Rose has been around since I was a cadet.'

'I can't imagine you as a cadet,' said Taz.

'You think I've been like this since birth?' smirked Up.

'I just can't imagine you ever not knowing how to do something,' shrugged Taz. 'You just seem so confident in everything you do. I can't imagine you ever being scared of anything.'

'That takes years of practise,' said Up. 'To be a good ranger, that's what you need to learn. You can't be afraid to die.'

'I'm not,' said Taz stubbornly.

'I've noticed,' said Up, drily. 'You seem to be a bit too much at the other end of the spectrum. You seem too eager to risk your life for the sake of doing something brave.'

'When there isn't anybody your death matters to, there's no reason not to risk your life if it helps the good cause,' shrugged Taz.

'You think your death wouldn't matter to anyone?' asked Up, resting a hand on Taz's arm.

'Mama's gone. Hugo's gone. Papa died when I was young. My step-father never cared about me.' Taz looked down into her lap, and as she spoke, she realised that she really was alone now.

'I care about you,' said Up softly.

'You only care about me because you made a promise to Hugo to look after me. If you had the choice, you wouldn't be here.'

'I do have the choice, and that's why I'm here,' said Up. 'If I had wanted to, I could have left you on your own in Mexico. Hugo would never have known. Besides, do you really think I'd give up all the excitement of being a ranger on duty if I didn't care about you?'

'What?' Taz looked up sharply, not quite understanding what he meant.

'I've filed a request to be stationed here at the Academy,' said Up. 'I've asked to be one of the instructors so that I can keep an eye on you. I want you to become a Starship Ranger because I can see how much it means to you and you have huge potential. But I also know that it's going to be hard, especially at the start. I'm going to be your mentor. If you need help with homework, I'll be here. If you're falling behind in combat or fitness, I'll help you train. You are going to become one of the finest rangers the Academy has ever seen, even if I have to drag you through the next four years by your hair.'

'You're really giving up your position on the starship to help me?' asked Taz, surprised.

Up nodded.

'You can't do that!' protested Taz. 'You love being a ranger! I don't want you to give up your job for me.'

'Taz, I want to...'

'I can do it without you.'

'I don't doubt that you can do it without me,' said Up. 'But it's the rules that an underage student at the Academy has a mentor for at least the first year. Who would you rather have, some unfriendly old Commander, or me?'

'I don't want anyone!'

'Taz, it's the rules!' said Up. 'Look, I know how you feel. I didn't want a mentor when I was at the Academy, and to be honest, he was a stupid man who worked me harder than any of the actual instructors did, but it was only for one year.'

'I can do this on my own,' said Taz stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest.

'I know. If you really hate having me as a mentor, you can get rid of me after a year. It's only compulsory for an underage student to have a mentor for one year. And it's not just the cadets. Underage students in any division in the Academy have a mentor, and there's always loads of underage students in the science and engineering divisions. Please, Taz. Just put up with me for one year. I know I'm a horrible old Lieutenant, but I can help you.'

'You're not horrible,' said Taz quietly, before adding, 'Or old.'

'I'll take that as a 'Thanks Up, I'd love you to be my mentor'!' smirked Up.

Taz just scowled at him, but she was secretly quite happy that he'd chosen to stay behind to help her. Though she didn't like to show it, she'd been scared about what would happen when he left and she was on her own again.

The doctor in the Academy's medical centre declared Taz's ankle to be fully healed a month before the new year at the Academy begun. A week after that, Taz was sent a memo by the Ambassador to report to his office for her recruitment tests. The Ambassador sat her in a chair opposite his desk to talk her through what the day would consist of.

'There are three sections to the early entry recruitment process,' said the Ambassador. 'As you are younger, and smaller, than many of the other students who will start in September we need to know you can cope with what the next four years entails. Today is not about showing us how good you are at things, so there's no need to worry if one part of the day doesn't go as well as you hoped. If you were perfect at everything, there wouldn't be any point in you joining the Academy to learn.'

The Ambassador chuckled to himself, but Taz couldn't see what was funny.

'No,' continued the Ambassador. 'Today is about showing us how much potential you have, and that you have the ability to learn over the course of your time at the Academy. Understand?'

'Yes,' nodded Taz.

'Now, as I said, there are three parts to today's test,' explained the Ambassador. 'Firstly, there are two exam papers which you will sit this morning. The first will be more science and logic, while the second will involve more writing. After lunch, you will report to the gym, where you will take the fitness test. This will last approximately two hours and will test a range of things, from your strength and stamina to your general health and fitness. After that, we give you a half an hour break, and then you will go to the combat room. Here, we'll put you up against an ensign and see what your potential is in that area. Does everything make sense?'

'I think so,' said Taz.

'Do you have any questions?'

'When will I find out the results?' asked Taz.

'Your exam papers will be marked as you complete the other two sections, and the fitness and combat instructors will report back to me immediately, so we'll be able to tell you this afternoon whether we can offer you a place or not. Are you ready to start the first part of the test?'

Taz nodded.

'Excellent,' said the Ambassador. 'If you'd like to follow me.'

* * *

After three hours in a stuffy classroom doing the two exam papers that made up the first part of the early entry test, Taz's brain ached. The first paper had been challenging, with a mixture of science questions, logic questions and to Taz's horror, some calculus. Taz attempted most of the paper, but got frustrated when she couldn't do some of the questions and ended up doodling on the corner of the exam paper when she could no longer be bothered to struggle through the pages of confusing numbers, letters and squiggles.

The second paper was slightly easier, and Taz was certain that she would have found it easy if it had been in Spanish. The paper consisted of two shorter comprehensions, followed by an essay on a passage from a book. Taz had always enjoyed reading, but she found some of the English hard to understand, and switched into writing her answers in Spanish halfway through the second comprehension.

Taz left the classroom and found Up standing outside with a bottle of water, which Taz accepted gratefully, drinking half of the bottle before pouring the other half over her face to cool her down.

'How was it?' asked Up, as they walked to the cafeteria together.

'You never told me I had to do fucking calculus!' moaned Taz, punching Up on the arm. 'I hate calculus! It's too hard.'

'The exams test basic high school knowledge,' shrugged Up. 'You should know it.'

'I never went to high school,' pouted Taz. It was true. Taz's education had been limited. She'd been taught to read and write by her mother when she was younger and had started at a small local school when she was six. But her tendency to lean towards more exciting outdoor activities meant that she'd never had much of an interest in learning. By the time she was eleven, she only ever turned up for the subjects she enjoyed. She'd given up on school completely shortly after her thirteenth birthday, with a love for reading, decent English skills and a hatred for anything that involved numbers. Taz's education from that day forward had been nothing other than how to survive on the streets of Mexico, which she'd learned from the boys she'd climbed trees, fought and played football with.

'Apart from the calculus, how do you think it went?' asked Up, as they entered the cafeteria and walked towards the serving counter.

'_Mierda_,' admitted Taz. 'The first paper was hard, and the second was in stupid English! I can understand most English and speak it quite well, but I've never had to write it before. I don't know how to spell English words so I wrote my answers in Spanish.'

'That shouldn't matter,' said Up. 'They have teachers who can translate.'

'I'll never make it as a ranger if I can't even write an essay in English,' sighed Taz, unhappily.

'You'll have lessons to improve your English,' said Up. 'Don't worry about it. I'm sure it went better than you thought.'

After lunch, Up took Taz to the gym and left her there with a scary-looking fitness instructor. He was much taller than average and the muscles in his chest and arms showed that he'd spent a lot of his life working out. However, he seemed friendly enough when he spoke.

'I'm Private Cal,' he said, smiling. 'I'm in charge of the gym here at the Academy. This is where some of your fitness classes will take place if you get into the Academy.'

Taz nodded.

'I'm going to test you on your general health and fitness today,' said Cal. 'If there's anything you can't do, or that you're struggling with, just let me know. This is about finding your potential, not pushing your limits. We don't want you to get injured by stretching yourself beyond your boundaries.

Taz thought that the fitness test went quite well. Cal timed her as she ran on treadmills and used the exercise bikes, tested how fast she could skip, counted how many push-ups, sit-ups and squats she could do and ended the test with a fifteen minute sample of circuit training, testing everything she'd covered over the whole test.

Cal gave her a drink and let her rest in the corner of the gym for half an hour, before taking her up to the combat classroom for the final part of the test. The floor was covered in foam mats, and the wall on the far side was also padded. Through an archway to the side, Taz could see a second room with a springy blue floor.

'How are you doing, Taz?'

Taz looked up and saw Commander Hutchinson enter with an ensign.

'Tired,' said Taz.

'Have you just had the fitness test?' he asked and Taz nodded. 'No time for resting when you're a Starship Ranger!' Commander Hutchinson grinned at her. 'If you need any more time to recover, just let me know. We won't start until you're ready.'

'I'm ready,' said Taz.

'Okay,' said Hutchinson. 'Put this in. We don't want any broken teeth.'

He threw an orange mouth guard at Taz and she fitted it into her mouth.

'This is Peter,' said Hutchinson, gesturing to the ensign, who was standing on the foam mats. 'You'll be fighting him this afternoon. The rules are easy. Each round will last until one of you submits. The fight will end after five rounds, or when one of you withdraws. Understand?'

Both Taz and Peter nodded.

'Great. If you could both take your places on the mats, please.'

Taz stood opposite Peter and assessed her opponent. He was a good head taller than her, and she could tell that he was strong. However, he also seemed slightly slow on his feet and Taz hoped to be able to overcome him using her own light weight and agility.

Peter had obviously also been assessing Taz.

'Sir, you want me to fight her?' he asked uncertainly.

'Yes,' nodded Hutchinson.

'But she's a girl,' frowned Peter. 'I can't hit a girl. She's so small I could snap her in half.'

'Lieutenant Up assures me that she is not to be underestimated,' said Hutchinson. 'Are you ready to fight? On my whistle.'

Hutchinson blew the whistle sharply, and Peter was clearly still uncertain about fighting a small girl like Taz. Taz took advantage of this moment of hesitation and swung a fist and Peter's head, connecting with the side of his temple.

'Fucking hell...' groaned Peter, clutching his head, but as Taz went for a second punch, he blocked it and took hold of her wrist. He twisted her arm up behind her back and knocked her to the floor, sitting on her back. Taz wriggled beneath him, not wanting to submit, until Peter twisted her arm a bit more. Taz yelled out in pain.

'Please submit,' said Peter. 'I don't want to have to break your arm.'

Realising there was no way she was going to be able to get out from under him, Taz shouted, 'I submit!' through her mouth guard. Peter climbed off her and helped her to her feet, before they stood opposite each other and prepared to fight once more.

The whistle blew and Taz swung her fist again, hoping to catch Peter before he was ready again, but he was expecting it. He reached an arm out to block Taz's punch, before wrapping an arm around her waist and charging her into the wall. Taz felt the wind knocked out of her and her back slammed against the hard wall, and winced.

Peter's arms pressed her into the wall, and Taz struggled against his strong grip. She attempted another punch, but Peter had her arms well and truly pinned back.

As Peter smirked triumphantly at her, she spotted her opening. Taz lifted her knee up sharply, connecting with his crotch, and he doubled over in pain. Taz wrapped an arm around his neck to hold him in a headlock, but he simply stood up straight, lifting Taz off the ground. Peter held Taz up against the wall, this time in midair so that her legs were dangling helplessly. One of his hands held her arm, while the other was at her throat, restricting her airway just enough for her face to turn red, but not so much that she couldn't breathe. He had learned from his previous mistake and used one of his knees to keep Taz's legs against the wall where she was unable to kick him in the balls again.

'I submit,' choked Taz, and Peter released his grip. Taz took a couple of seconds to regain her breath before standing opposite him once again.

Taz realised where she'd gone wrong in the previous round. Her moves were becoming too predictable. Peter was picking up knowledge on her fighting technique and using it to predict what she was going to do next and then block it. Taz would have to beat him at his own game.

'Ready?' asked Hutchinson, once more, and Taz nodded.

The whistle was blown, and Taz stepped forwards just like she had done on the previous two rounds. As expected, Peter went to block a punch to the side of his head, but Taz never threw the punch. She quickly sidestepped the other way, jabbing Peter just below the ribs with two of her fingers when he didn't expect it. He doubled over and Taz punched him twice in the stomach, before sweeping his feet out from under him. As he fell to the floor, Taz pounced on top of him, straddling his stomach.

'Submit, _idiota_!' she hissed.

'No,' said Peter, before suddenly using his weight advantage to flip them over so that he was lying over Taz on the mat. He grabbed her hand and pushed her thumb back into an excruciatingly painful position.

'Submit, or I dislocate your thumb.'

Taz tried to wriggle free, sharply moving her head forwards in an attempt to headbutt him, but he pushed her back down.

'I'm not joking,' growled Peter, twisting her thumb even more.

Taz gritted her teeth in pain, determined not to cry out, and then yelled, 'I submit!'

Peter got to his feet and offered a hand to help Taz up. She ignored it and stood up on her own.

'That's three rounds to zero,' said Hutchinson. 'Peter wins.'

Peter offered out his hand and Taz begrudgingly shook it. She ached in places she didn't know existed.

Taz spat out her mouth guard and took a long drink from her water bottle.

'You fight well,' said Peter, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel.

'I lost,' said Taz, bitterly. 'I didn't win a single round.'

'You weren't supposed to win a single round,' said Peter. 'Trust me, that was the point of the test. Don't be sorry about it. I may have underestimated you to start with, but you're better than most cadets when they start at the Academy. I reckon I'll get a black eye from that first punch.'

Peter tenderly touched the side of his head by his left eye and winced.

'Where did you learn to throw a punch like that?' asked Peter.

'My brother taught me when I was little,' said Taz. 'I liked to play football with the niños and he said I needed to be able to fight them.'

'Your brother was a good teacher,' acknowledged Peter. Taz wondered if Peter would have known Hugo, and for a moment, she considered asking him, but they were interrupted by Commander Hutchinson.

'That's the end of your tests today, Taz,' he said. 'I'll take you back to the Ambassador's office and you can wait for the results.'

* * *

Taz sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs outside the Ambassador's office, swinging her legs backwards and forwards. Commander Hutchinson was inside, reporting back to the Ambassador before Taz would be told the results of her tests. She really hoped that she'd done enough to get into the Academy, but she wasn't all too confident that today's performances had been enough.

'Taz!'

Taz looked down the corridor and saw Up striding towards her.

'How did the second and third tests go?'

'Fitness was fine,' shrugged Taz. 'Combat was a disaster.'

'I'm sure it wasn't that ba...'

'He beat me three rounds to zero.'

'Taz, I got beaten three rounds to zero in my recruitment test eight years ago.'

'Really?' asked Taz.

'Yeah. Dislocated his jaw and broke a couple of his fingers along the way, but he beat me, and I still got into the Academy.'

The door of the office opened and Commander Hutchinson stepped out.

'The Ambassador is ready to speak with you,' said Hutchinson. 'Up, as her mentor, you can go in too.'

Taz and Up entered the Ambassador's office and sat in two chairs opposite his desk. He shuffled some papers in front of him, before looking up at Taz.

'How did you find today?'

'It was okay,' said Taz. She thought that giving a neutral answer was best, as she even though she didn't want to seem overconfident, she didn't want to seem too negative and weak either.

'Have we put you off?' laughed the Ambassador.

'No,' said Taz truthfully. 'I like a challenge. I'm not scared of hard work.'

'That's good to hear. Now, I guess you're dying to know how you did today. So let's start with the exam this morning.' The Ambassador flicked through the papers in front of him picking up one and reading the information on it. 'You did well on the first paper. You scored highly on the logic questions, and the science and math questions that you attempted were generally well done. You seem to have struggled with some of the math questions, particularly calculus, but we have teachers here who can help with that.'

Taz sighed with relief, glad that it didn't seem that her lack of understanding of calculus had let her down yet.

'The teacher who marked your second paper was very impressed,' continued the Ambassador. 'He says that obviously there's work to be done with your English skills, but once your answers were translated, he said that your analysis and writing was good. Foreign language skills are sought after among Starship Rangers, and the fact you can speak Spanish fluently, while still having a general understanding of the English language is looked upon favourably.'

Taz looked at Up and he gave her a little smile.

'Next came your fitness test,' said the Ambassador, picking up a second sheet of paper. 'Private Cal gave you a glowing report. He tells me you have no serious health problems, and that your strength and stamina are well above average for a new cadet, let alone one of your age and size.'

The Ambassador picked up a final sheet of paper.

'And finally, combat. Commander Hutchinson was impressed. I know he was concerned that your stubbornness would mean that you didn't submit and got yourself seriously injured, but he was pleased that you recognised when the situation was hopeless. There's no point in getting injured for the sake of your own pride, and you knew that. He was also impressed with how you absorbed information on how your opponent would fight and used it to your advantage in the third round. That is one of the most crucial rules or combat, almost more important than the fighting skills themselves, which the Commander reports that you are certainly not lacking. He informs me that you have a strong punch.'

Taz smirked as Up snorted.

'All in all, a very successful day,' said the Ambassador. 'I'm very pleased to tell you that I'd like to offer you a place at the Academy as a cadet starting in September.'

Taz's face broke out into a grin and Up patted her on the arm in congratulations.

The Ambassador reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a form.

'If you could take a few minutes just to fill out this form, signing it in the places it asks,' said the Ambassador, sliding the form and a pen across the desk. 'Lieutenant Up, as her mentor, you will be required to sign the form too.'

After a few minutes, Taz let Up sign it, before sliding the completed form back across to the Ambassador. He read it and frowned.

'You haven't filled in your surname. In the name box, you've just written 'Taz'. Surely that's not your full name?'

'My name is Taz,' shrugged Taz.

'And your surname?'

'I don't have a surname,' said Taz. 'Not anymore.'

'Is it not Lopez?' asked the Ambassador. 'I heard that Hugo Lopez was your brother.'

'No,' said Taz. 'I'm just Taz.'

'Very well,' sighed the Ambassador. 'I think that's all. I'll make sure that your joining instructions are sent to your room, along with your cadet uniform. I look forward to seeing you in September, Cadet Taz.'

Taz and Up both stood.

'Lieutenant, if I could have a private word?'

Taz nodded at Up and he sat back down in the chair as she left the office.

'Yes, sir?' questioned Up.

'Commander Hutchinson is disappointed that you've requested to leave his Starship in order to become Taz's mentor and teach at the Academy.'

Up twiddled his thumbs awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

'However, I must agree that it was a good decision.'

'Excuse me, sir?'

'Taz needs a mentor, and you're just the man for the job,' explained the Ambassador. 'She reminds me a lot of you when I first met you.'

'In what way?'

'She's stubborn, she's brave, and I seem to remember having the same debate about your name as I did with hers. You two are the only recruits to ever insist on not having an official surname.'

Up smiled at the memory of the argument in this very office eight years ago, when Up had insisted that he was called 'just Up'.

'Make sure she gets through, Up,' said the Ambassador. 'She's a very talented young girl, and we need more rangers like her. She has the ability to get through the course, but I need you to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Watch her back too. Her gender, age and size will make her a target for bullies. I don't want her getting hurt.'

'I'd be more worried about the bullies than Taz,' smirked Up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Taz passed the next few weeks until the new year spending most of her time with Up. Just as he promised, Up started training her in combat, teaching her a few basic moves and the simple ways to defend herself.

In the evenings they would just hang out together, sometimes watching movies together, like their favourite, Karate Kid, other nights just sitting and talking, telling stories about their lives. Taz loved it when Up gave her accounts of his adventures over the last four years since he had graduated from the Academy, dreaming of the future when she could join in the battles with him.

The first week of September arrived, and on the first day of the new year, Taz dressed in her new cadet uniform; khaki green combats, a shirt of the same colour, and black military style shoes. The clothes were the smallest sizes that the Academy offered, but they still drowned Taz, and she had rolled the sleeves up to her elbows so that she could use her hands. Thanks to Up, she'd managed to get some small boots specially ordered in for her, but they were new and uncomfortable, needing breaking in.

Taz gathered in the assembly hall with the two hundred other new recruits for a welcoming speech by the Ambassador. They were all sitting in rows, mostly in silence because very few of them knew somebody else. Taz took a moment to look around at her fellow first years.

About half of them were wearing the same green uniform as her, and she knew that these must be the other cadets. They mostly consisted of boys, and the biggest muscliest ones at that. For the first time, Taz began to wonder if she was out of her depth. Any of these boys could probably flatten her in a second if they wanted to. About a quarter of the recruits were wearing blue overalls, and Taz remembered Up telling her that these were the scientists. There was a much more even split of boys and girls, and if anything, Taz would have said that there were probably slightly more girls in this division. The remaining quarter of the recruits were the engineers, another group which was dominated mostly by boys. They were wearing a mixture of grey and black overalls, for engineers specialising in electrical and mechanical engineering respectively.

The Ambassador entered the assembly hall and Taz followed everybody else's lead by standing as he walked up onto the stage at the front.

The first years all sat down and Taz switched off as the Ambassador began a long and boring speech welcoming them to the Academy. After about fifteen minutes, everybody started clapping and Taz realised that the speech had finished.

They were called out in lists of twenty, their dorm groups. Taz was in the second group to be called out and the twenty of them were taken to dorm 2A, their home for the next four years. Taz wasn't surprised to see that she was the only girl in her dorm. Up had managed to get some information on Taz's classmates a couple of days ago and she knew that out of the hundred and eleven cadets in her year, only seven of them were girls.

As soon as the twenty cadets of dorm 2A were left alone by the ensign who had shown them to their dorm, fights began to break out. Up had warned Taz about this. He had told her that there was a struggle to determine the hierarchy of the dorm in the first couple of days and that divided groups of cadets would form. Up had also warned Taz against getting into these fights, telling her that she didn't want to make enemies. He said the best thing for her to do was to keep out of other people's fights, but to defend herself so that she didn't become a target for bullies.

The dorm was a long room, with a communal area at one end and a door leading off the the showers and toilets at the other. The communal area had a few sofas, a flat screen TV and a mini kitchen unit, complete with kettle, toaster and microwave. Along the wall opposite the door were twenty cubby holes with beds in them. They were paired in twos, with a ladder on the wall beside each pair to get up to the top one. Each cubby hole was long enough for a person to lie in and just about tall enough for someone to sit up in. Taz was grateful that she was so small, as fitting into one of those comfortably wouldn't be a problem. Each one had a thin mattress in it, and pillows, sheets and blankets were piled up at the end of each mattress.

There was a mad scramble for beds and Taz kept well out of it, going over to the box of envelopes on the table in the communal area and finding the one with her name on it. She tore it open, finding her timetable and locker key inside it, a small 2A-12 engraved on the key. She went over to the row of lockers on the opposite wall to the beds and found number twelve, finding some basic living items, like soap, a toothbrush and a couple of towels, as well as a spare uniform inside it. Somebody had also moved her stuff from the single room that she'd been living in until now. She didn't own much, only two sets of casual clothes, some books in both English and Spanish and a few photos of her family. She realised that Up must have been the one to move her things into here when she found a copy of _The Karate Kid_ still wrapped in cellophane. There was a note stuck onto the front.

_Thought you might like your own copy to watch if I'm busy._

_Up_

Taz smiled and locked her locker. When Hugo had left to be a Starship Ranger five years ago, he had given Taz a present to remember him by; a simple necklace made of an animal tooth hung on a piece of cord. Taz hung the key from this cord, knowing that she'd never lose it there.

Several of the boys were still fighting over the beds, and Taz walked over to the bunk opposite her locker, both of which were currently empty. Deciding that she'd rather have the top one because it made it harder for the others to get to her, Taz climbed up the ladder and into the top bunk, crawling into the small space.

Fortunately, there was plenty of room for Taz to lie down straight in it, something she was sure that some of the other cadets wouldn't be able to do. She could also kneel comfortably in it without her head touching the ceiling.

As Taz made her bed, putting the sheet over the mattress and laying the blanket out flat, she explored the cubby hole. It wasn't quite as basic as it looked from the outside. There was a sliding compartment in the back wall, which revealed a little shelf, on which there was a small portable radio and enough space to keep a couple of personal items, such as books or photo frames. There was also a little remote control, and Taz experimented with the buttons. One controlled the thin strip of lights in the ceiling above her head and one allowed a small television to come down from the ceiling at the foot of the bed. Taz was delighted to see that it had a DVD player and decided to try it out with her brand new copy of _The Karate Kid_ later on.

'Has anyone taken this bed?' a boy asked Taz, gesturing to the bed below Taz's. He was tall enough that his head was just able to see into Taz's cubby hole, but he didn't look as big and muscly as some of the other cadets in the dorm. She shook her head.

'Mind if I take it?'

'Go ahead.'

'I'm, Thomas Rider, by the way,' said the boy. 'You can call me Tom.'

'Taz,' said Taz.

'No, I said I was called Tom.'

'No, idiota, I'm Taz!'

'Oh,' said Tom, his eyes widening as realisation dawned across him. 'Unusual name for a girl, isn't it?'

Taz just shrugged. 'It's my name.'

'Hey, aren't you a bit small to be a cadet?' asked Tom.

'You make another comment about my size, and I'll rip your dead-goddamn head off,' snapped Taz.

'Sorry,' said Tom, holding up his hands in defence.

* * *

It was soon time for them to go down to lunch, and Taz stood in the queue with Tom, who was trying to hold a conversation with her, which she was ignoring. She was more irritated by the three idiots in the queue behind them, who were messing around loudly and stupidly.

'Hey, sweetheart,' one of them said, and though Taz knew it had been aimed at her, she pretended not to have heard.

'Hey, babe,' said the boy again, and his two mates laughed. The boy put a hand on Taz's shoulder and she turned around suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed in irritation.

'Hey, sweetheart,' he smirked stupidly. 'I'm Scott. Fancy hooking up with me sometime?' He added a wink on the end.

'How about no?' Taz rolled her eyes, turning back around and picking up a tray from the pile at the entrance to the serving area.

'I can show you how to have a real good time,' said Scott. 'You'll have much more fun with me than your scrawny friend.'

Taz felt Tom tense beside her, and she turned back to Scott.

'Leave us alone, or I'll smash your face in.'

'Looks like she's a feisty one,' grinned one of Scott's friends.

'Hey, aren't you that Taz chick?' asked the other.

'Maybe,' frowned Taz.

The three boys laughed to themselves.

'What?' she demanded.

'Nothing,' smirked Scott. 'Just, aren't you Lieutenant Up's little protégé?'

'Yes,' said Taz uncertainly, hoping that the knowledge that she had someone as famously tough as Up watching over her would put the boys off.

'Is it true you slept with him to get him to persuade the Ambassador to let you into the Academy?' asked Scott.

'What?' spluttered Taz.

'I heard that the only way you managed to get into the Academy was by shagging Lieutenant Up.'

'I heard she did the Ambassador too,' added one of the other boys.

'Bit of a slut, aren't you?' laughed Scott. 'Don't worry, I like girls with experience. Babe, I promise you'll have a much better time with me than you ever had with Lieutenant Up.'

Without evening thinking, Taz swung the tray in her hands at Scott, hitting him around the head with a loud thump. As he clutched the side of his face, Taz grabbed him by his collar and pushed him hard against the wall.

'You ever talk about Up like that again, and you'll get more than that.'

Taz let go of Scott. She was aware that everyone else in the cafeteria was staring at her, but she ignored them, asking the lady behind the serving counter for a slice of pie, before taking it over to an empty table in the far corner of the cafeteria.

'That was totally badass!' said Tom, excitedly, sitting down at the table with Taz. He continued to chatter on and Taz pretended to be interested, nodding and making occasional noises to make it seem like she was listening.

She looked around the cafeteria for Up's familiar brown spiky hair, but he was nowhere to be seen. She already missed his presence around her. He'd become her source of comfort, and she was dependent on him. Taz made a note to visit him in his own private quarters later on.

'So that Scott guy said that Up was your mentor,' she heard Tom say. 'You're an underage recruit too, then?'

Taz nodded. 'Are you?'

'I'm seventeen,' said Tom. 'I'm not really the same build as most of the underage cadets, but my dad is a Commander and my older brother, Callum, is the guy who runs the gym here at the Academy.'

'Private Cal?' asked Taz, remembering him from her entrance test.

'That's him,' nodded Tom. 'I think I got into the Academy by default because of my family, not because I'm talented. You must have done something pretty special to get in here though. How old are you?'

'Fifteen,' replied Taz. 'I killed a few robots, nothing much.'

'You killed some robots?' repeated Tom in awe. 'Wow!'

* * *

The rest of the day was allocated to all of the first year students to settle into their dormitories and get to know each other. The fights continued, though they subsided slightly as the afternoon went on and the dorm split into clear friendship groups.

There were two main rival groups, made up of the biggest boys, and each of these groups occupied the beds at either end of the dormitory. Scott and his two cronies had the three beds at the far end by the bathroom, while another group of four boys, led by a tall nineteen year-old named Brandon, had claimed their territory at the other end by the kitchen and communal area. Fights broke out whenever one of Brandon's group went to the bathroom, or when one of Scott's group ventured past their rivals into the communal area.

Two of the smallest cadets, who were both barely past their eighteenth birthday and so just able to qualify for the Academy without having to take the tests that Taz had taken (for Taz was certain that they would have both failed) took the next two beds down from Scott's group. Scott offered them protection from Brandon's group of thugs as long as the two boys remained loyal to them and promised to clean the bathroom so that they didn't have to put up with the smell.

Four of the cadets were older than the rest, aged twenty-five and over, and they naturally stuck together. They weren't bigger or tougher because of their age, but Taz discovered that they'd decided to become Starship Rangers because they hadn't enjoyed their previous jobs or they'd fancied a career change.

The other seven cadets in the dorm, Taz included, remained neutral and took up the beds in the middle of the dorm, swearing their allegiance to neither Brandon nor Scott.

Tom had made friends with one other boy in their dorm, a boy called Hayden who was the only other out of the twenty of them who was an underage cadet, a few weeks shy of his eighteenth birthday. He was a much bigger build than Tom and Taz could see why he'd been selected as an early entry cadet. Tom tried introducing him to Taz, but she was feeling antisocial and didn't say anything other than a curt hello.

Taz was feeling lonely. She'd never really had any friends, the boys she'd used to play football with being nothing more than just playmates, but over the last couple of months she'd really developed a connection with Up. Taz thought it was strange that two seemingly different people, a young Mexican girl with limited experience of the world they lived in and the older, battleworn lieutenant, could have so much in common with each other. Neither of them had a family, both of them were reserved about letting their emotions show and they both had a determination to serve the Galactic League.

Taz managed to get into another fight that afternoon, once again with Scott. She'd pulled the curtain across her cubby hole to give herself some privacy and put the DVD of _The Karate Kid_ on to pass the time. About an hour into the movie, Scott had pulled back the curtain of her bed and peered inside.

'Oh, hey babe,' he said, leering at her once more. 'I didn't realise this one was yours.'

'Well now you know you can get lost,' snapped Taz.

'I want your pillow,' said Scott, reaching out to pull Taz's pillow from behind her head. Taz slapped his hand away.

'No.'

'These beds are damn uncomfortable and I want an extra pillow,' said Scott rudely. 'You're going to give me yours.'

'No I'm not!'

'Come on, babe. I'd rather you gave it to me willingly. How about I pay you for it? I promise that what I have to offer you is better than what Up gave you.'

Taz swung her fist out into the side of Scott's head, the same side that she'd hit with a tray earlier. She'd noticed that he had a little bruised lump there and had no regrets as she hit him there again.

As Scott yelled out in pain, Taz swung her legs over the side of her bed and dropped down to the floor, taking Scott down with her. She sat across his stomach.

'Leave me alone, buttwipe!' Taz growled, slapping him across the cheek, before getting up and kicking him in the side for good measure.

Tom was sitting on his bed gaping at Taz, Scott groaning in agony in a ball on the floor beside his bed.

'He do anything to you?' Taz asked him.

'His friend took my pillow,' shrugged Tom. 'It doesn't matter.'

'Which friend?'

'His name is Riley,' said Tom. 'He's the skinhead with the tattoo on his arm.'

Taz glanced down the dorm and saw the guy that Tom was on about. He was huge, with muscly arms, one with a tattoo of a skull on the bicep. He was threatening one of the two cadets who was seeking protection in Scott's gang, shouting orders at the terrified youngster about getting rid of the smell in the bathroom.

'Wait here,' Taz said to Tom. She marched down the dorm towards Riley's bed, intending to take Tom's pillow back. Tom was the only cadet who'd been friendly towards her so far, and even though she wasn't ready to return the friendliness, she wasn't just going to let a bully get away with stealing his possessions.

'Hey, what do you think you're doing?' Riley demanded, as he spotted Taz taking the extra pillow off his bed. He walked over to her and gave her a shove.

'Getting Tom his pillow,' said Taz defiantly, looking Riley straight in the eye.

'Just 'cause you're a girl, it doesn't mean I'm not going to hit you,' growled Riley, flexing his muscles. For the first time, Taz felt panic wash through her. Had she bitten off more than she could chew? 'You messed with my man Scott, and now you're messing with me. Well I'm going to mess with your face!'

Riley swung a heavy fist at Taz and she ducked, charging forwards to headbutt him in the stomach. He gasped, the wind knocked out of him, but it didn't deter him. He used one strong arm to pluck Taz off the ground and she flailed her arms and legs around wildly.

'Not so tough now, are you?' Riley grinned menacingly.

Using all the force she could muster, Taz kicked her leg out as hard as she could into his balls.

Riley doubled over in pain and dropped Taz. She fell to the floor and got to her feet immediately.

'You mess with Tom, and you're messing with me,' Taz warned Riley. 'Understand?'

Riley nodded as he groaned in pain.

'Same goes for you,' Taz said to the third member of Scott's gang. He was the smallest of the three of them and had watched as Taz had taken down both of his friends in a matter of minutes. He nodded his head, his eyes wide.

Taz picked up the pillow and walked back towards her bed in the middle of the room, ignoring the eyes of every single cadet that followed her as she walked.

Four people stood in her way, their arms folded across their chests in an intimidating way. It was Brandon and his three friends.

'You want my pillow too?' asked Taz, slightly annoyed. All she'd wanted to do this afternoon was watch _The Karate Kid_ and now all these thugs had disrupted an otherwise peaceful afternoon.

'No we want you,' said Brandon. 'You've just taken down two of our enemies. We want you on our side. You can take one of the beds by us, kick out the guy who's in it at the moment, and we'll protect you if Scott comes calling again.'

'I'm fine as I am,' said Taz. 'And so are you. You want me on your side so that you don't end up like those _idiotas_. If you leave me alone then you have nothing to worry about.'

Taz sidestepped them and walked over to her and Tom's bunks. She tossed the pillow at him before stepping over Scott, who was still lying on the floor moaning in agony, and climbed up the ladder to her bed.

'Thanks,' said Tom, his mouth still wide open in a mixture of awe and shock.

* * *

Taz was relieved when she spotted Up at dinner that evening, and broke away from Tom and Hayden to sit with him.

'Where were you at lunch?' Taz asked Up, sitting herself down opposite him.

'I had lunch at a different time,' explained Up. 'I wanted to leave you with your new classmates to make friends. I knew that if I was there, you'd ignore them and sit with me, like you've done now.'

'They're all _idiotas_,' snorted Taz.

'They're the people you'll be living with for the next four years.'

'Don't remind me,' said uttered Taz, rolling her eyes.

'I hear you got into a fight earlier,' said Up conversationally.

'Which fight?' asked Taz.

'You've been in more than one fight?' Up queried.

Taz looked at him sheepishly.

'Okay, stupid question,' admitted Up. 'All cadets spend the first week or so fighting, and you're ... well, you're you. I should have expected it. But did you have to hit a boy around the head with one of the cafeteria trays in front of half of the Academy?'

'Oh, that,' said Taz. 'He's an idiot.'

'What did he do to deserve that?'

'He made a stupid ass comment about me and you.'

'What did he say about you and me?' asked Up.

Taz looked at Up and raised her eyebrows, not really wanting to repeat what Scott had said at lunch.

'Oh,' said Up, understanding what Taz had meant and blushing. 'He made a _comment_ about you and me. And the other fights?'

'The same guy,' explained Taz. 'Tried to steal my pillow and the one of the boy in the bunk below me. I gave him and his friend a lesson. The whole dorm saw it. They won't mess with me now. Not unless they're really stupid.'

'Normally I'd disapprove, but you need to show them all that you're not to be picked on,' nodded Up. 'Most of the fights die down after the first month, so if you can get through that, you'll be fine. Maybe I can put you up against this guy in a real fight in combat tomorrow, show him who's boss.'

'What do you mean?'

'Have you not read your timetable yet?' asked Up and Taz shook her head. 'I've been given two first year classes and you're in one of them. The first lesson is tomorrow afternoon. What's this guy's name?'

'Scott,' said Taz. 'I don't know his last name.'

'The name rings a bell,' said Up. 'He might be in my other class though.'

'So, have you made any friends?'

'There's a guy called Tom who keeps talking me,' shrugged Taz.

Up sighed. 'You need to make friends, Taz.'

'I've got you. You're my friend.'

'I'm ten years older than you.'

'You're the only normal person here.'

'Taz, I'm not going to be here for you forever,' sighed Up. 'Please will you at least try to make some friends? They don't have to be from your dorm, or even in the cadet division if you don't want them to be. Tomorrow you start classes and all the dorms get mixed up for different classes. You'll even have some lessons, like math and science with students from other divisions.'

Taz considered this for a moment.

'Please, Taz? For me?'

'I'll try,' said Taz, reluctantly. 'But I bet they're all _idiotas_.'


	8. Chapter 8

_Decided to update today because I'm going to be busy listening to the Apocalyptour album over the next few days! Anyone else excited?_

**Chapter 8**

Classes started promptly the following morning, and for Taz, this started off with a whole morning of fitness with Commander Rose, the instructor that Up had warned Taz about. Up had told her that he made the cadets' lives as miserable and unpleasant as possible. That was an understatement.

There were twenty-five of them in Taz's class, a mixture of cadets from various dorms. Tom and his friend Hayden were in Taz's class, and fortunately Scott and his two cronies weren't. There were two other girls in the class, to Taz's relief, meaning that she wouldn't be the only one picked on for her gender.

This fitness class took place on one of the sports fields and Commander Rose began by getting them all to line up in a row, standing to attention in a salute. He then proceeded to walk along the line, looking down his nose at each of them with a look of disgust on his face, giving them each a reason why they wouldn't make a good Starship Ranger. Some of them were as simple as being too weedy or short, whereas others were given completely irrelevant reasons like having acne or a slightly misshapen head.

When Commander Rose reached Taz, who was six from the end of the line, he burst out laughing.

'What's this?' he snorted. 'A pet from the circus? The Academy is a place for people serious about becoming a Starship Ranger, not children. Why don't you run back home to Mommy and Daddy?'

'I am serious about being a Starship Ranger,' Taz glared at Rose.

'Did I ask you to speak?' snapped Commander Rose. 'No, I didn't! Stand on one leg.'

Taz was confused but did as she was told, balancing on her left leg.

'If your foot touches to floor before I tell you to put it down, you do ten press-ups. What's your name, cadet?'

'Taz,' replied Taz.

Rose narrowed his eyes before moving along the rest of the line and insulting the rest of the cadets, who learned from Taz's mistake and kept their mouths shut.

When Rose reached the end of the line, he stood in front of them to address them.

'I want to make a few things clear before we begin,' he barked at them. 'Some of your teachers in other classes might be happy about you having a bit of fun. Some of them might be a bit lax about discipline in their class. To put it bluntly, I don't give a shit what happens in these fitness sessions as long as it's exactly what I tell you to do.'

Taz wobbled slightly and her foot touched the floor.

'Ten push-ups!' Commander Rose ordered Taz, and she slowly lowered herself to the floor to complete them. When she was done, she got back to her feet. 'Back on one foot.'

Taz rolled her eyes and did as she was told.

'As Cadet Taz has just ever so kindly demonstrated, anybody who doesn't do what I tell them gets punished,' said Commander Rose, pacing up and down before them. 'Anybody who speaks out of turn gets punished. Anybody who falls behind in class comes back for extra sessions, which are held on Sunday morning, when I'm sure you'd all rather be in bed. My job isn't to have a jolly old time, it's to turn you lot from the pathetic sacks of potatoes you are now into the next generation of elite ensigns. Understand?'

There was a soft mumble of understanding.

'When I ask you a question, you will reply with a loud and clear 'yes sir' or 'no sir'. Which is it to be? Do you understand?'

'Yes, sir!' chorused the cadets.

'Cadet Taz, you can put your foot down,' said Rose, and Taz did so. 'Okay, for your first task I need you in groups of four.'

Commander Rose spent the first hour of the fitness session getting the cadets to complete an assortment of challenges in their teams, including competitions over which team could do the most sit-ups and push-ups, to which team could do the shuttle runs in the fastest time. Everything was competitive, with punishments of extra push-ups for the team that lost each time. Though Taz found it tiring and boring, it wasn't beyond her capabilities.

In the second half of the lesson, Commander Rose gave them an hour to run fifteen laps of the field. This would have been easy if he hadn't told them that they had to stop after every lap and do ten push-ups.

It was tough, as the cadets would have to average four minutes a lap in order to complete the run in the one hour time limit. Taz started off at a fast pace, managing the first three laps in three and a half minutes each, but she was tired from the first half of the session anyway, so couldn't keep up with the pace. By the time she reached the thirteenth lap, her arms were shaking so violently during the push-ups that she could barely hold up her own body weight.

Taz was the sixth in the class to finish, after one hour, fourteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Nobody managed it within the time limit, so the whole class was told to report to the field at eight o'clock on Sunday morning to do the run again, and that they'd have to come every Sunday until they had done it under an hour.

Having missed the first quarter of an hour of lunch because the fitness class overran, Taz went to the cafeteria for some much needed lunch, leaving Tom and Hayden behind as they still had two laps to finish. Taz chose her food at the serving counter and went to sit down at the table where Up was sitting alone.

'I hate that stupid _hijo de puta_!' she growled, stabbing at a piece of chicken with her fork.

'Who?'

'Commander Rose! He wouldn't let us leave until we'd run fifteen laps, with push-ups between each lap.'

'Ah,' smiled Up knowingly. 'The Devil's Hour.'

'What?' asked Taz.

'The run you've just done is one of Commander Rose's favourites, and has been for years. It's been nicknamed the Devil's Hour since before I was at the Academy.'

'I've got to go back on Sunday to do it again,' moaned Taz.

'How fast did you do it today?' asked Up.

'One hour fourteen,' said Taz.

'That's not bad for a first go.'

'I set off too fast. I got tired.'

'I reckon that if you learn to pace yourself properly, you'll run it in under an hour within the next couple of months, maybe less, what with all the other training you'll be doing.'

'You mean I won't have a Sunday meaning free for two months?' groaned Taz. 'When am I supposed to sleep?'

'Just wait until your fourth year,' smirked Up. 'Rose adds more laps onto the Devil's Hour each year. In your fourth year you have to do thirty laps in an hour. It's highly likely you'll spend every Sunday in your fourth year out on that field.'

'Thirty laps?' whined Taz.

'Yes,' nodded Up. 'Out of the seventy-four cadets that graduated in my year, only eight of us ever managed all thirty laps in less than an hour.'

'Dead-God, I hate that man,' groaned Taz.

After lunch, Taz went with Up to the combat classroom, as that was the lesson she had next. She'd been in here many times before, during the last few weeks when Up had been teaching her basic combat skills. Today they just sat on a bench in the corner as the other cadets slowly began to arrive. Up was drumming his hands against his legs and Taz realised that he was nervous.

'What's the matter?' she asked him.

'Nothing's the matter,' he replied quickly.

'You're nervous,' stated Taz.

'No I'm not.'

'You can't lie to me,' said Taz.

'Fine, I guess I'm a little anxious,' admitted Up.

'What have you got to be worried about?'

'Well, this is my first class,' said Up. 'I want it to go right.'

'Of course it will go right,' Taz reassured him.

'But what if it doesn't. If I don't make the right impression in this class then all of the cadets in other classes will hear that I'm a pushover and I'll be screwed.'

'Up, the whole of the Academy already knows you're a badass,' pointed out Taz. 'All I have to do is mention you're my mentor and the other cadets leave me alone. Your reputation does that.'

'I've never taught a dead-goddamn thing in my life, Taz,' said Up. Taz was worried. She'd never seen Up this vulnerable before and it scared her. He was always the one there for her to lean on, and Taz knew that she owed it to him to at least return the favour.

'That's a lie,' she said, giving him a friendly dig in the ribs. 'You've taught me, you big _idiota_. You've been teaching me for weeks. If it all seems too much today, just pretend that it's just me you're teaching. Forget all of the other cadets are there and you'll be fine.'

'You're right,' smiled Up. 'Thanks Taz.'

There was a wolfwhistle and Taz looked up to see Scott and one of his friends, who Taz now knew was called Tony, smirking at them from across the room.

'Is that him?' muttered Up.

'_Si_,' growled Taz.

Up stood up and so did Taz, rejoining the rest of the classmates. Tom and Hayden we're in this combat class so she stood with them, ignoring the suggestive winks that Scott and Tony were sending her way. Fortunately, Riley, the huge skinhead who'd stolen Tom's pillow, wasn't in this class.

'Good afternoon, cadets,' Up barked at them. 'I'm Lieutenant Up and I'm your combat teacher for this year. Now, if you do what I tell you, these classes might be enjoyable and we'll get along well. But if you cross me the wrong way, I swear I will make it my job to make these sessions as unpleasant for you as possible. Understood?'

'Yes, lieutenant,' chorused the class.

'Good,' said Up, glancing at Taz. She gave him a reassuring smile and nodded her head ever so slightly. 'So how many of you have done any sort of combat before.'

About half of the cadets raised their hands.

'Okay, good,' nodded Up. 'Not to worry if you haven't. The aim of the first few weeks is to get you all up to a similar level. We'll be covering the basics of self-defence, as well as how to throw good punches and tackling an opponent to the ground.'

'Please,' Scott spoke up, rolling his eyes. 'Anybody can throw a punch.'

'Yeah, says the guy who got given a black eye by a girl!' retorted Brandon. It was true. The left side of Scott's face around his eye had blossomed into an impressive purple bruise from where Taz had hit him.

'Alright, boys!' intervened Up. 'Let's save the fighting for when I tell you to. Now, first of all I'm going to teach you how to block punches. Looks like some of you could have made use of that skill already.'

As the class snickered, Taz glanced at Scott, who was unsurprisingly fuming.

'Can I have a volunteer to help me demonstrate?' Up asked the class. His eyes briefly flitted to Taz and she raised her hand. Up looked relieved.

'Thank you Taz,' he said. Taz stepped forwards so that she was standing facing Up, and the rest of the class stood in a semicircle around them to watch them demonstration. Somebody, presumably Scott, wolfwhistled again.

'Okay Taz, I want you to throw a punch to the side of my head,' said Up, ignoring Scott's wolfwhistle. 'I'm going to block it. I want you all to watch carefully. Whenever you're ready, Taz.'

Taz made sure that Up was completely ready so that she didn't catch him unawares and embarrass him in front of the class, before swinging a fist halfheartedly at the side of his head. Up raised his arm sharply and blocked Taz's punch, taking all of the impact on his forearm. With his other hand, he reached out sharply to grasp Taz's wrist, meaning that she was unable to throw another punch and rendering her right hand useless.

'Thank you, Taz,' said Up, releasing his grip on Taz's wrist. 'Would you mind doing it again, but slower so everybody can see how to block it?'

Taz nodded and swung her fist slower than before towards Up's head. He raised his arm to block the punch.

'First of all, you block the punch with your forearm,' explained Up. 'Then use your other hand to trap the wrist and stop any other punches being thrown.' Up demonstrate by grabbing Taz's wrist once more. He let go and turned to the cadets.

'Understand?' he asked them.

'Yes, Lieutenant!' they chorused.

'Commander Rose has taught you well,' noted Up, surprised by the obedience of the majority of the class. 'I'll show you once more up to speed.'

Taz's fist flew towards Up's head for a third time, still holding something back so that Up had plenty of time to react. He blocked it and snatched her wrist.

'Thanks, Taz,' said Up. 'I want you all in pairs practising this. Take it in turns so that both of you get the chance to block the other's punch.'

The rest of the class split themselves into pairs and Taz went to rejoin them, but Up caught hold of her arm.

'I know you can punch better than that,' he smirked at her.

'I didn't want to show you up in your first class,' shrugged Taz.

'Oh, Taz,' laughed Up. 'You're no match for me. Not yet, anyway.'

Taz ended up partnered with the only other girl in the group, a slightly pathetic nineteen year-old called Emily. When Taz asked her why she had joined the Academy, she said it was because her older brother was a Ranger and it had sounded exciting, but she hadn't realised how tough the training would be. Taz rolled her eyes at this. There was no doubt in Taz's mind that Emily wouldn't last until Christmas, and the sooner the better. Taz would much rather have one of the boys as her combat partner, as least then there would be a slight challenge and she wouldn't feel so guilty about accidentally punching them on the head.

Towards the end of the lesson, Up decided to get them to spar against each other in a proper fight to assess where each cadet was at in terms of previous skill and to get them to apply their new block in a practical situation. Up paired them off with different partners, and Taz ended up with Scott.

'Lieutenant, I'll go with Scott!' volunteered Tom, after Up had announced that Taz and Scott would be fighting each other.

'What?' Taz hissed at him. 'I can handle Scott.'

'You don't have the element of surprise any more, Taz,' said Tom.

'I can still take him down.'

'Sir,' Tom addressed Up. 'Scott is huge. It's unfair for Taz to have to fight him.'

Up looked at Tom scrutinisingly and Taz knew that he was questioning Tom's own likelihood of coming away from a fight with Scott without a major injury.

'In the robot wars, do you think the robots pitch their weakest robots against the smallest rangers to give the rangers the best chance of winning?' asked Up.

'No, sir,' said Tom, bowing his head.

'Exactly. So let's give Taz the opportunity to face a situation as close to the real thing as possible so that she's in good practise when it comes to the robot wars.'

'But, sir...'

'No buts, Tom,' said Up. 'You're working with Jackson.'

Tom reluctantly walked over to where Jackson was standing and shot Taz an apologetic look. She just glared at him before turning to Scott.

'Looks like it's just me and you, baby,' said Scott with a wink. 'Perhaps the Lieutenant is bored of you being his whore and is letting the rest of us have a taste.'

Taz charged headfirst at Scott, her head slamming into his stomach and knocking him back into the padded wall of the combat room. He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him and Taz swung a fist straight into his nose. Taz was sprayed with the blood that exploded from Scott's nose and the fist connected with it, and threw another solid punch into his stomach. Taz swept Scott's feet from under him and straddled his chest, punching his head repeatedly, releasing all her anger.

Taz felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and lift her up. She yelled out, flailing her legs as she was lifted off Scott's lifeless body.

'Somebody check if Scott's okay,' ordered Up, who Taz realised was the person holding her. She stopped wriggling, tired from her efforts to get away.

'He's breathing, sir,' said one of the cadets who was kneeling around Scott's body.

'Is he conscious?' asked Up.

'I don't think so.'

Up put Taz down.

'You stay there,' he growled at her angrily, pointing at a spot behind him, away from the rest of the cadets who were either looking worried at Scott's predicament or gazing at Taz in a mixture of awe and fear.

Up joined the three cadets who were kneeling around Scott and pressed his ear to Scott's chest.

'He's breathing alright,' muttered Up. He did a couple more tests which Taz couldn't see, before getting to his feet.

'I've got to take him to the medical centre,' said Up. 'See you on Thursday. Class dismissed.'

The cadets all gathered their stuff chattering amongst themselves and shooting glances at Taz. She made to walk towards her own stuff, but was stopped by Up's shout.

'Cadet Taz, I thought I asked you to stay where you were,' he barked across the room.

'But...' Taz started to protest.

'No buts, cadet. I gave you an order.'

Taz walked back to where Up had told her to stand, rolling her eyes.

Up bent down and picked up Scott, cradling him in his arms. As the rest of the class filed out, Up walked over to Taz.

'Cadet, if you move even a finger before I get back from the medical centre, you are going to be in even deeper shit than you already are! Understand?'

'Yes sir,' mumbled Taz.

As Up left the room, Taz knew she was in trouble. She had never seen Up this angry since she'd met him three months ago, and the fact that he was calling her 'cadet' instead of using her name could only be bad news. She would just have to wait until her returned from the medical centre to discover her fate.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks for all the lovely reviews! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 9**

'What the hell do you call that?' demanded Up.

They were in his office next to the combat classroom, Up sitting behind the desk and Taz standing before him, her head bowed in shame as he shouted at her.

'He pissed me off,' explained Taz.

'And is that a good enough reason to beat the boy unconscious? Is that how you solve all your problems, by punching the person responsible?'

'But this is combat class!' argued Taz. 'We're meant to fight!'

'On my command, not whenever you feel like it!'

'He called me a whore!' protested Taz. 'I'm sick of him making sexist comments to me all the time.'

'It doesn't matter what he called you, there is no excuse for what you did to him.'

'Well, you were the one who made him my partner in the first place!' snapped Taz.

'Don't you dare try and pin the blame on me!'

'If you had just let Tom fight Scott instead, you wouldn't have this problem!'

'I wanted you to fight him on equal ground in a controlled situation so that you could prove to him that you hadn't just struck lucky yesterday,' argued Up. 'By fighting him before I blew the whistle, you're just proving to him that you can only beat him when you've got the element of surprise. Taz, I know what boys like Scott are like. I trained with plenty of them when I was at the Academy. He's not going to let this go.'

'What do you mean?' asked Taz.

Up sighed. He seemed to have calmed down a bit. 'Expect revenge. If I was in his situation, I'd want payback, and I'd do it when you were least expecting it. You're going to have to watch your back, Taz, and I'm not going to help you with this one. You need to learn to take what's coming to you.'

'I can handle him,' said Taz confidently.

'I hope you realise that I'm going to have to take you to see the Ambassador,' said Up. 'Sending another cadet to hospital is a serious offence.'

Taz nodded, but she wasn't worried about the punishment. There was something else nagging her.

'Up, are you mad at me?' she asked.

'I was at first,' said Up. 'I was worried that you'd damaged my reputation as a teacher and made it look like I couldn't control a class of first years, but if you promise nothing like this will happen again, I think I'll be okay.'

'I promise,' said Taz earnestly.

'Taz, I might not be mad at you, but I'm still disappointed in you,' said Up. 'It wasn't easy to get you a place at the Academy and I sacrificed a lot for you. I will be mad at you if you throw that all away because of an idiot calling you names.'

'I'm sorry Up,' said Taz, bowing her head. 'I swear to Dead-God it won't happen again.'

* * *

Taz spent the next hour in the Ambassador's office, on the receiving end of a lecture about how what she'd done was totally unacceptable and not what was expected of cadets, especially a cadet such as Taz who'd already had many rules bent in order to get her into the Academy. Taz listened and apologised in the appropriate places, regretting what she'd done to Scott not because she felt bad for hurting him, but because this speech about how disappointed the Ambassador was in Taz's behaviour was wasting an hour that could have been better spent in the gym, or reading books to practise her English.

Up stood to the side as the Ambassador told Taz off, agreeing with him that a suitable punishment was for Taz to spend the next three Sunday afternoons in Commander Rose's fitness session that was run especially for those cadets who stepped out of line and needed punishment. Though Taz hated Commander Rose and already had to spend her Sunday morning rerunning the Devil's Hour, spending her whole Sunday with the horrible Commander was a much better prospect than getting kicked out of the Academy and having to go back to Mexico, where she would have nobody to live with and be haunted by the memories of the family that had died there three months ago.

When the Ambassador had dismissed her, Up walked Taz back to her dormitory, giving her another lecture about how disappointed he was in her. Taz was sick of hearing the same things over and over again, but listened just to keep Up happy. She didn't want to do anything else to damage her friendship with the only person on the whole Starship that she actually liked.

* * *

Taz's first week at the Academy passed in a blur. As well as combat with Up, fitness with Comander Rose and gym sessions with Private Cal, the first years took part in lessons. Some of these were standard, like math and science, for which they were mixed with some of the students from other divisions, while others were much more specialised, such as weapons training. Taz enjoyed these lessons, where they were shown how to use the various zappers, guns and explosives that the Galactic league provided for fully qualified Rangers going into a battle situation. Some lessons were lectures about the weapons, but the best ones were the practicals where they got to take the guns out onto the shooting range or use simulation weapons in mock combat against each other on a specially designed battlefield.

Another lesson specifically for the cadet division was tactical warfare. This mostly consisted of boring lectures about the various tactics employed by the Starship Rangers in different situations, and was simple enough if you were willing to do the learning for tests.

All students at the Academy, whether they were cadets, scientists or engineers had to be able to pass an exam in a foreign language by the time they graduated at the end of their fourth year. The choices were French, German and Spanish, and Taz went for the easy option. After one lesson of Spanish, during which she took the opportunity to catch up on the sleep she'd missed out on the previous night because she'd been studying for the first tactical warfare test of the year, Taz's Spanish teacher announced that she could take her Spanish exams at the first sitting in February, meaning that she'd have that module signed off her training for graduation. In the meantime, it was agreed that Taz should use the time that was timetabled as Spanish class in a one-to-one English class with a teacher, preparing her for the compulsory English module and improving her already decent English skills.

The only other thing on Taz's timetable was the two scheduled sessions with her mentor, Up. All underage first years had to spend two half an hour sessions with their mentor, who would check that they were coping and help them with any work that they were struggling with. Taz loved these sessions because it was one-on-one time that she got to spend with Up, and when she didn't need help with work, they would go to the combat classroom and train or go to the gym to work out together.

Scott was released from the medical centre after two days and returned to the dormitory with a lot of gossip surrounding him and Taz. Many people were wondering whether he was going to get revenge on Taz, and steered well clear when the two of them were in the same class in case they were caught in the crossfire when things kicked off.

Taz was surprised that two weeks passed and Scott had made no move on her. She knew better than to let her guard down though, as Scott and his friends would often sit and talk quietly amongst themselves, glancing over at Taz. She knew that they were planning something, but she had no idea what, and the fact that they were dragging it of left Taz feeling tense and always expecting the worst whenever she was near them.

Taz spent almost all of her free time either with Up or in the dorm where everybody else was around. She knew that Scott's gang would never try anything when she had Up's protection or if she was in the dorm because Brandon and his friends would be sure to step in as protection if anything kicked off.

Taz was most afraid during the day when Scott's mates from other dorms were around too. Though she knew that she had some power through fear over Riley and Tony, the two other members of the gang in her dorm, but Scott also hung around with four cadets from other dorms. The seven of them together would have no trouble singling Taz out and getting their revenge, even of Brandon and his gang were around too.

It was three weeks before they got their revenge, and a lot had happened in those three weeks. Two cadets in Taz's dorm had dropped out of the Academy, along with a few others in other dorms. Taz noticed that hardly any students in the other divisions had dropped out, proving that Up was right when he said the the cadets was the toughest division to be in.

Taz had completed her Sunday afternoon punishment with Commander Rose, though she still had to go for the extra Devil's Hour sessions on Sunday mornings. At first, it had been harder because Taz was tired from all of the training she was doing during the week, but her body soon became accustomed to it. The Devil's Hour was also tougher on Sundays because every single cadet in the year was jostling for a position as they ran around the field, as opposed to the twenty five in a normal fitness class. However, within those three weeks the number of cadets running on a Sunday morning dropped from a hundred and eleven to ninety, with the thirteen who'd dropped out of the Academy and the eight who managed to complete the run under an hour. While Taz hadn't done it within the time limit yet, all of the training she was doing, especially the strength work she did in the gym with Up to improve her push-ups, had allowed her to lower her time to one hour and six minutes. She was the fifth fastest out of the cadets still left running it on Sundays and she was confident that she'd be done in less than an hour within the next few weeks.

The revenge came during the night, when Taz was asleep in her bunk and least expecting it. Taz was woken by the sound of her curtain being drawn back and knew that she was in trouble a split second before a piece of fabric was tied across her eyes as a makeshift blindfold. Taz opened her mouth to cry out and get somebody's attention, but a second piece of cloth was shoved into her mouth, muffling the sound.

Taz struggled against the people attacking her, kicking out and flailing her arms about, but even though she couldn't see what was going on, she could tell that she was heavily outnumbered and that they were all stronger than her. They bound her wrists and ankles and hoisted her out of her bed, letting her drop to the floor with a painful thud.

'You're coming with us, sweetheart,' said a voice that Taz recognised as Scott's and she could almost hear the grin on his face from the way that he spoke.

* * *

_Hehe, I love cliffhangers._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Up was in a good mood as he walked down to breakfast. Sure, life at the Academy didn't have the same thrill of a new risk being around every corner as working on a Starship did, but it definitely wasn't as dull as he'd expected it to be. He liked the thought that he was helping to train the next generation of Starship Rangers, passing on his own vast knowledge and experience of the real life situations a Starship Ranger has to face.

Far too many of the teachers at the Academy had been there long before he'd been a cadet himself, and that was eight years ago. In Up's opinion, this was why each new group of recently graduated ensigns was even less prepared for the real life of a Starship Ranger than the previous lot. The teachers just had no experience of what the Robot Wars were like. Up had spent four years fighting the robots. He knew their strengths and weaknesses, he knew their plans of attack, and he knew what it was like to watch your comrades die at the hands of a killing machine. If the next group of ensigns was going to have any hope of surviving their first year as a qualified ranger, they were going to need all the knowledge from experienced rangers like Up that they could get, and he was only too willing to pass this information on.

Admittedly the first years were a nightmare to teach. They were still at the stage where competitiveness outweighed their desire to get the job done, and there were still some cadets so weak and timid that he couldn't understand why the Ambassador had let them join the Academy in the first place, but he knew that all of the ones unable to cope would drop out in the next few months. These classes were a challenge to control, with fights breaking out between the cadets even when Up hadn't yet blown his whistle to signal that they could fight.

On the other hand, Up loved teaching the fourth year cadets. Having done three years of training already, none of them were willing to let stupid fights with classmates over petty things get in their way and they worked hard. Up was proud of them, and the way that they worked towards their ultimate goal; graduating the Academy and becoming a fully qualified Starship Ranger.

Today would be a particularly good day. He was teaching fourth years first thing, followed by the compulsory combat class for third year scientists. This class wasn't so bad because it didn't contain any of the huge thugs that could be found in the cadet division. The scientists were good at listening to instructions, and even though they weren't as strong and good at combat as the cadets, they were also nowhere near as aggressive and much easier to teach. The whole of Up's afternoon was free today, except for one of his half an hour mentoring slots with Taz, which he enjoyed, so he would spend the afternoon working up a sweat in the gym, keeping himself in shape for when he rejoined a Starship to fight in the Robot Wars once more.

Up enjoyed mentoring Taz. He knew that they were an odd pairing, but even though he'd only known the small Mexican girl for a few months, he felt as if he'd known her much longer. They had so much in common that it was easy for them to spend hours chatting and forget that they had other things to get on with. Up was slightly upset that he only got two half an hour slots a week designated for mentoring Taz, but she often came to visit him in his room in the evenings. If she had work to do, he would help her, particularly in science and math, and she was also keen to practise speaking English with him. He'd noticed a vast improvement in her English skills since she'd started one on one sessions with an English tutor. He also knew that she spent a lot of her time reading books in English, both ones which her tutor had given her to read and ones which she had found in the Academy's library.

When Taz didn't have any work to do, they would either go to the gym or practise sparring in Up's combat classroom. As she was so much smaller than the rest of the cadets, Up was keen to make sure she that she was a few weeks ahead of her classmates in terms of which moves she knew. He wanted to make sure that she could handle herself and have the upper hand if a situation arose in her dormitory. Up was very pleased with the progress and determination she was showing in her fighting, because he knew it would give her a slight edge and make her just that little bit more likely to survive when she graduated the Academy and fought against the robots.

The Robot Wars had died down slightly over recent months. There were occasional stories of scuffles on distant planets, but the Rangers had it well under control. But while most people saw the lack of robot activity as a good thing, Up wasn't so certain. He had fought against enough robots to know what they were like, and there was no doubt that the little invasions they were carrying out on insignificant planets were distractions while they planned something much bigger.

As Up rounded the corner onto the corridor that led down to the dining hall, he saw that a large crowd had formed just outside the dining hall doors. They were all laughing and whispering, pointing at something Up couldn't see.

But as he drew closer, he stomach dropped as he saw what they were pointing at, a small figure hanging upside down from the pipes above the doorway. She was blindfolded and her dark hair covered part of her face, but there was no doubt that this was Taz.

'No,' whispered Up, jogging closer to go to her aid. But as he drew closer, he saw what Taz was wearing. Over the loose fitting clothes that he knew she wore to sleep in, someone had pulled on a plain white t-shirt. And on the front of the t-shirt, written in what was clearly blood, were three words.

_LIEUTENANT UP'S WHORE_

'Out of the way!' yelled Up, charging towards Taz and pushing the crowd out of the way. A few people cheered sarcastically and somebody wolfwhistled from towards the back of the crowd.

'Come to rescue your whore, Lieutenant?' someone shouted, and Up ignored them.

As Up reached the place where Taz was hanging, he pulled his knife out of his belt and hacked away at the rope around her ankles, giving him a brief flashback to when he'd done exactly the same at Taz's Quinceañera to save her from the robots. Up caught her as he finally released her feet, cradling her in his arms. He pulled off the blindfold and saw that her face was also covered in blood, an impressive purple bruise forming around her left eye. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing.

'Well?' Up demanded of the crowd. 'What are you waiting for? Breakfast!'

As Up pushed his way back through the crowd, they began to swarm into the dining hall. Up spotted Scott and three of his friends, who smirked at Up, but he didn't rise to the bait. Right now his priority was making sure that Taz was okay, and besides, attacking an unarmed, defenceless cadet without evidence that it was him who's done this to Taz would surely result in Up losing his job and his title of lieutenant, if he didn't get fired from the Rangers completely.

Up took Taz straight to the medical centre, ignoring the whispers of students he passed in the corridor on the way. When he reached the medical centre, he took Taz inside and laid her down on one of the beds nearest the door. This room was similar to the medical centres on board each starship, only much bigger to accommodate all of the students at the Academy who were sick or got injured. Up flagged down one of the doctors on the ward, who started doing tests on Taz to check that she was okay.

Having sent a note with one of the ward's assistant doctors to the Ambassador explaining the situation and asking for somebody to cover his classes, he took a seat beside Taz's bed and waited for her to wake up.

* * *

_I loved the reviews I got on the last chapter for leaving it on a cliffhanger, so I decided to give you another one! :P_

_Thanks for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Thanks for all the reviews! I'm seriously blown away by how enthusiastic you guys are about this story._

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Taz woke up in a hospital bed. It had been a few months since the last time she had done this, but the scene was familiar; a big room lined with beds made up in white sheets, Up sitting in a chair beside her bed.

'Taz!' exclaimed Up. He leapt forwards, pulling Taz into a sitting position and hugging her tightly. 'Taz, I'm so sorry.'

'Don't be sorry,' mumbled Taz. 'You didn't do this.'

Taz had vague memories of what had happened the night before. She remembered being tied up and dragged out of bed, and being taken somewhere in the Academy, though she wasn't sure where because she'd been blindfolded. And then she remembered somebody hanging her upside down from the bounds around her ankles. The last thing that Taz remembered was a blow to her face before everything went black.

'I should have stopped this from happening,' said Up. 'We both knew that they were going to want to get revenge on you, and I told you that you deserved it. I told you that I was going to let you take what was coming to you because you needed to learn the lesson. I was wrong to say that.'

'Up, it's not your fault!' protested Taz.

'You're fifteen years old, Taz,' said Up. 'They could have killed you. I'm your mentor and it's my job to protect you.'

'It's also your job to make sure I learn my lessons.'

'But as your friend, it's my duty to keep you safe,' said Up: 'Friends are supposed to look out for each other, not stand by just waiting for a group of thugs to beat the other one up. I made a promise to Hugo that I'd protect you.'

'You don't have to keep that promise,' said Taz. 'Hugo's not here anymore.'

'It's not just about what I promised Hugo anymore, Taz. It's about what I promised myself. I care about you a lot and I want nothing more than for you to achieve your goal of becoming a Starship Ranger. I should be here to protect you at the Academy.'

'I'll get better in no time,' said Taz. 'It was just a punch in the face.'

'It's not just that, Taz,' said Up, wincing slightly.

'What do you mean?' frowned Taz.

'They wrote something on a t-shirt and put it on you,' explained Up. 'Almost the entire Academy saw it. Everybody is going to be whispering about you and laughing at you all because of me.'

'It's not your fault!' protested Taz.

'Isn't it?' asked Up, holding up a white t-shirt, the word's _Lieutenant Up's whore_ written in blood. 'They're going to be talking about us, Taz.'

Taz wasn't fazed by the writing, only what it was written in.

'Is that my blood?' she asked.

Up nodded. 'When they punched you, your nose exploded with blood. They used it to write this.'

'What do I look like?' asked Taz, warily. She knew she must look pretty bad if she'd been punched that hard and was slightly apprehensive about what she looked like now.

Up picked a small mirror off the table beside the next bed along and held it up for Taz to see her reflection. The skin around her left eye was purple and swollen and her nose was red. Though most of the blood had been scrubbed off her face, there were still traces of it there, particularly around her nostrils.

'I look hard,' said Taz, putting the mirror down.

'That won't stop people laughing at you.'

'I don't care.'

'You should care,' Up sighed. 'You need to make friends.'

'None of them will be friends with me after this!' Taz rolled her eyes.

'That's exactly my point!' retorted Up. 'And I'm sorry about it because it's my fault.'

'I don't need any of those dumbasses as friends,' said Taz. 'You're my friend. I don't need anyone else.'

'Taz, we've been through this a thousand times before,' sighed Up impatiently. 'I'm not going to be here forever. I'm contracted for one year to teach here and be your mentor, then I'll probably be put back on a starship. The robots are picking us off really fast and the Galactic League needs everyone they can find out there fighting. When I leave, you'll need other people, and it's no good waiting until I go to find yourself some friends. You'll have to break into friendship groups.'

'It's only for three years,' shrugged Taz.

'No, Taz. It's for the rest of your life. There's no guarantee we'll ever work on the same starship. When you graduate, you'll be assigned to a crew and sent off to fight. It's unlikely that it'll be the same crew as me.'

'So you're saying after this year we're never going to see each other again?' asked Taz bitterly.

'No, I'm not saying that,' protested Up. 'There will be Galactic League functions, the Christmas ball, award ceremonies. Perhaps we'll both be able to go to one of those occasionally.'

'So you _are_ saying that we're never going to see each other?' Taz resigned herself to the worst. 'And you think it's easier to break off the ties now instead of in a year?'

'Now you're just taking words and putting them in my mouth!'

'But this is what you're saying actually means,' pointed out Taz. 'You know what? If that's what you think, then maybe I am better off with different friends after all. Happy now?'

'Taz...' started Up, but Taz swung her legs over the side of the bed and got out. Apart from a throbbing headache and a sore nose, she felt fine and just wanted to get away from Up. She walked towards one of the doctors.

'Can I go?' she asked.

The doctor carried out a few short tests to make sure that she wasn't concussed and then gave her a couple of painkillers, telling her to come back this evening for some more if she still had a headache.

'Taz!' Up called after her as she walked towards the door of the medical centre. She turned and he strode towards her. 'I'm still your mentor. I'd like you to come to my room at seven tonight and we'll go over your statement for this incident. We've got a meeting with the Ambassador first thing tomorrow morning.'

'Whatever,' said Taz, walking away disinterestedly.


	12. Chapter 12

_Sorry that I haven't replied to any reviews in a while, I've been incredibly busy and thought it was better to use my time to update rather than reply. But I appreciate every single one of them and want to say thank you for being so positive and keeping me motivated!_

_And sorry I took slightly longer to update this chapter. I've been away without internet since I posted the last chapter and only got back this morning._

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter 12**

Taz returned to her dormitory, which was empty because it was the middle of the afternoon and everybody was in class. She took a long shower, taking advantage of the fact that she didn't need to worry if any of the boys were going to burst into her cubicle and letting the water cascade down her body for far longer than was needed to wash the traces of blood off her body.

Taz put on a fresh uniform and checked the time. There were still two hours until dinner and she couldn't be bothered to turn up to class. It was calculus at the moment anyway, her least favourite class, so if she has the opportunity to miss it, she was going to take it.

Taz sat on her bed and pulled the curtain across the entrance to the cubby hole. She lay on her back reading _The Wind in the Willows_, a book set for her by her English tutor. She was enjoying it, even if she did think that talking animals were stupid. But that was what she loved about reading, the fact that she could forget about her own life and escape into a completely different world, realistic or not. And right now, Mole, Ratty and Toad were helping her take her mind off her internal loathing for Up, her annoyance at Scott's gang and what they had done to her and the fact that she no longer had any friends.

Taz suddenly sat up in bed. But that wasn't true, was it? Tom and his friend Hayden had been nice to her for the whole time she'd been at the Academy. She'd been ignoring them most of the time, or at least just letting them get on with their conversations without actually participating in them herself, but surely all she needed to do was to talk to them back and then she'd have made some actual friends? Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to prove Up wrong after all.

Taz went down to dinner when it was time and spotted Tom and Hayden sitting by themselves at a table in the far corner. After collecting a block of lasagne and a slightly stale piece of chocolate cake from the serving counter, she went and sat down next to them.

'Hi,' she said, deciding to make an effort to join in.

Both boys sat there in an awkward silence and Taz couldn't have failed to notice the glance that they shared.

'What?' demanded Taz, shovelling lasagne into her mouth. She hadn't eaten anything all day and had only just realised how hungry she was.

Neither Tom nor Hayden said anything. Taz decided that she'd have to start the conversation herself.

'So, what did I miss in class today?' she asked. 'What did you do in fitness?'

'The usual,' said Tom coldly. 'Where's Lieutenant Up?'

'I don't know,' shrugged Taz. 'I haven't seen him since I left the medical centre.'

'That's funny,' said Tom. 'I would have thought you'd spend all of your time with him now that your secret is out in the open.' There was a hint of malice in his voice.

'What secret?' asked Taz.

'Don't play dumb with us, Taz,' said Hayden. 'The whole Academy knows that you two have a thing now.'

'You do realise that he's ten years older than you?' asked Tom. 'I'm not sure that would be legal even if he wasn't your teacher.'

Taz choked on her lasagne, spraying bits of mincemeat across the table. 'You think there's something going on between us?'

'The whole Academy saw the t-shirt, Taz.'

'And you believe it?' asked Taz incredulously. 'Did you not notice that I was hanging upside down from my ankles and blindfolded? Who do you think gave me this black eye? Scott and his friends are the ones who did this to me, and the t-shirt was just part of them getting back at me.'

'It's not just the t-shirt,' said Tom. 'That just started it all off.'

'Yeah, there are hundreds of rumours going around the Academy,' nodded Hayden. 'You spend a lot of time with Up.'

'He's my friend!' protested Taz. 'He saved my life and now he's my mentor.'

'Loads of people have seen you sneaking into the Lieutenant's room every evening,' added Tom.

'I wasn't sneaking...'

'He always chooses you to demonstrate in his combat classes.'

'Because I've learned the stuff before!' Taz rolled her eyes. She was getting sick of this.'

'And then there's the question of how you even got into the Academy in the first place,' said Tom. 'You're the youngest cadet to ever learn at this Academy, and probably the smallest. You must have done something to persuade Up to get you in here so young.'

'I killed some robots!' argued Taz.

'Really?' asked Hayden, skeptically. 'Because I heard that was a cover story that you and Lieutenant Up devised to hide how you really got into the Academy.'

'This is bullshit!' snapped Taz. 'Up is my mentor and friend. He saved my life and I saved his whole starship from the robots. I had nowhere else to go so we talked to the Ambassador and he offered me a place here. There's nothing else going on and if you think that there is then you're just idiotas.'

'Come on, Tom,' said Hayden, getting to his feet and picking his tray up from the table. 'We have a science test to revise for.'

'I hope you and Up are happy together,' said Tom sarcastically. 'You're going to be all each other has when the Ambassador hears of this and kicks you both out of the Academy.'

'_Hijo de puta_!' Taz yelled after them as they walked away. She stabbed at her lasagne with even more rage. Up was right. She actually did have no friends now.

A shadow fell over Taz and a voice spoke. 'Do you mind if I sit down here?'

'Get lost!' snapped Taz, not even bothering to look up and find out who had spoken to her.

The person sat down anyway.

'I hear you've had a tough day.'

Taz opened her mouth to retort and snapped her head up sharply, but stopped herself from answering back when she saw who it was. The girl looked a couple of years older than Taz, with long hair that was a dark blonde colour plaited down the back. Her eyes were a greeny-blue colour and she wore the blue overalls of a scientist.

'Have you come here to find out the slag's side of the story?' spat Taz bitterly.

'No,' said the girl matter-of-factly. 'I just heard what happened today and saw your two friends walk off. I thought you might want the company.'

'They aren't my friends,' said Taz stubbornly. 'I have no friends.'

'Then I guess that's one thing we have in common,' said the girl simply. 'I don't really get on with the other students.'

'Neither do I,' confessed Taz.

'I'd kind of guessed that, or you wouldn't have been hung upside down in that t-shirt for the whole Academy to see,' laughed the girl.

Taz narrowed her eyes. Anybody else would have got a punch for that comment, but there was something different about this girl to everyone else that made Taz restrain herself and reserve judgement.

'So why do they hate you?' asked the girl.

'I'm the youngest and the smallest cadet in the Academy,' shrugged Taz. 'I don't let people inside me which means I have no friends to stand by me. I'm an easy target. But I'm also better at combat and fitness than most of them. They just don't like being beat by a girl.'

Taz didn't know why she was opening up like this. The only person who she ever spoke to about what was actually going on inside her head was Up. Perhaps now that they'd argued and she no longer felt like she could trust him, Taz was just happy to find someone else willing to talk to her for long enough to hear what she had to say.

'I guess it must be tough to make friends when there are no girls in your dorm,' nodded the girl.

'It's not that there are no girls,' said Taz. 'Just all the boys are idiots. Except Tom and Hayden. They were the only nice ones but now they also hate me because they think there's something between me and Up.'

'That's just stupid,' said the girl. 'It's obvious there's nothing between you and Lieutenant Up.'

'Really?' asked Taz. 'Nobody else seems to think so.'

'Yeah,' nodded the girl. 'I mean, he's a legend amongst Starship Rangers. He finished top of his year at the Academy, he became a lieutenant at the age of twenty-three, making him the second youngest lieutenant in Galactic League history. His life is in the Rangers. He's not going to throw away all of that for a relationship with a student, no matter who she is and how much he likes her.'

'How do you know all of that about him?' frowned Taz.

'My brother trained with him at the Academy,' said the girl. 'They were best friends.'

Taz's eyebrows shot up. Up had never mentioned any other friends, let alone a best friend. It was one of the things she thought that they had in common, having nobody but each other to turn to.

'Up never mentioned your brother,' said Taz.

'That would be because my brother died three years ago,' said the girl.

Taz felt her blood run cold. She knew exactly what it was like to lose a brother, having gone through the same thing months ago.

'I'm sorry,' Taz mumbled.

'He was killed by the robots in the first stages of the Robot Wars,' said the girl. 'He's the reason why I came to the Academy. My parents wouldn't let me be a cadet because they don't want to have to go through the same thing as they did when Mark was killed, so I decided to become a scientist instead. I want to do anything to help the war against the robots just do that Mark didn't give his life in vain.'

Taz found this story very touching. She found herself warming to the girl a lot. Though Taz had only known her for a few minutes, she felt like they had so much in common that Taz could confide anything in her. So she did.

'When I was a _niña_ back in Mexico, me and my big brother used to pretend we were Starship Rangers,' confessed Taz. 'When I was ten, he left to join the Academy for real. I didn't see him for five years. Then he came to my Quinceañera and he was so grown up. I was so proud of him.'

The girl nodded as Taz took a deep breath in preparation for what she was about to say.

'He died that day. The robots got him too.' This was the first time Taz had told anyone about Hugo, the only time she's spoken to somebody other than Up about what happened at her Quinceañera.

'I'm so sorry,' said the girl, noticing that it was difficult for Taz to talk about and resting a comforting hand on her arm.

'He was serving on Up's starship. When he died, he told Up to look after me. That's why I'm here, why I'm so close to Up.'

'I guess we have a lot in common then,' said the girl.

'Why did you come over here and talk to me?' asked Taz.

'I already told you. I've got no friends.'

'Why not?' asked Taz. 'You seem normal.'

'That's the problem,' laughed the girl. 'The rest of them aren't normal. Most of them have no other interests outside of science. All they ever talk about is the experiments we did in chemistry class or the latest zapper technology. This probably sounds really dumb because I'm a scientist, but they only ever talk about science. And it was fine for the first couple of weeks, but I've been here over a month now and I think I'm going crazy and my head wants to explode. They're the most boring group of people I've ever met.'

'Why are you here if you hate science so much?'

'I don't hate science,' sighed the girl. 'It was my favourite subject at high school, but I don't want it to be the only thing in my life.'

'Transfer to the cadets,' suggested Taz. 'We do a bit of science, but mostly other stuff.'

'I would, but I can't. I wanted to join the cadets but my parents wouldn't let me after what happened to Mark. I don't want to let them down.'

'Oh,' said Taz.

'Hey, what are you doing this evening?' asked the girl.

'I was probably going to go to the gym,' shrugged Taz. 'Get away from the _idiotas_ in my dorm.'

'Can I come with you?' asked the girl hopefully.

'Sure,' nodded Taz. They both got up from the table and carried their trays over to the washing up station.

'It's so nice to finally talk to somebody normal in this place,' said the girl. 'I'm glad I've finally found a friend.'

Taz realised something. 'Hey, I don't even know your name!'

'Oh, sorry,' said the girl. 'I completely forgot. I'm Jennifer Bates. You can call me Jen if you want.'

'I'm Taz,' replied Taz.

'Oh, everybody knows who you are,' laughed Jennifer.

_I love hearing your thoughts and predictions. Do you think Taz and Up are going to sort themselves out? How do you think Taz will deal with this situation? And what do you think of Jennifer? We'll get to know her a bit better over the coming chapters. _

_Thanks for reading and for all the support._


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

After spending an hour in the gym and having a quick shower to freshen up, the two girls went back to Jennifer's dormitory. Taz didn't want to have to face all of the boys in hers, and she was surprised at how different the two dorms were. While Taz's was always loud, with the noise of the main TV as well as lots of smaller ones, radios and conversations, not to mention the continuous fights and arguments that broke out between cadets, Jennifer's dorm was much quieter. Instead of the mess that littered Taz's dorm, the stuffiness and the smell of sweat that never quite disappeared, this dorm was much cleaner and fresher.

The layout of the two dormitories was almost identical. Both had the cubby hole beds in the opposite wall, with a row of lockers against the wall, a bathroom at one end and a communal area at the other, but this room was slightly more tailored towards the scientists. Instead of the communal area being several sofas and armchairs grouped around a big television screen, with a kitchen in the corner, the scientists' communal area was split into two. One side was a smaller version of what the cadets had, with just two sofas, a kitchen and a much smaller TV, whereas the other half had some bigger tables for studying and doing work, as well as some bookcases containing copies of the textbooks.

About six students were sitting at the table doing homework, while one was in the kitchen making some coffee, another on one of the sofas reading a book and two more were further down the dorm sitting on the floor playing a board game. The room was almost silent.

'Wow this place is different!' said Taz, impressed.

'Really?' asked Jennifer, surprised. 'In what way?'

'Cleaner, smells nicer, quieter,' listed Taz. 'People are working, not fighting. There's no televisions or radios blaring out.'

'It gets a bit noisier at about ten when the library closes,' said Jennifer.

'Is that where the rest of them are?' asked Taz.

Jennifer nodded.

'I've lived here for four months and I didn't even realise that the Academy had a library!' shrugged Taz.

'I've been in there several times and I've only seen a few cadets in there, mostly fourth years,' said Jennifer. 'It's mostly used by the scientists, and occasionally the engineers.'

'And you lot actually study?' asked Taz incredulously.

'Most of our schedule is academic, so I guess we get a lot more work than you,' explained Jennifer. 'What do you do in your spare time?'

'Work out mostly,' replied Taz.

'I guess the time we spend doing homework is like the equivalent of cadets going to the gym,' said Jennifer. 'But I do hardly any studying compared to most of these guys. They seem to actually enjoy it. I do what I get set by the teachers, and spend the rest of my time doing fun things. For most of them, studying is fun.'

'Really?' asked Taz incredulously.

'I told you I found them dull,' laughed Jennifer. 'One or two of them are okay, but most of them are boring nerds.'

Taz chuckled.

'Come on, there's something I want to show you,' said Jennifer, walking towards the row of lockers. She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked one of them, taking a thick leather bound book out of the locker, before closing the door and locking it once more.

She led Taz back over to the communal area and they sat down on the unoccupied sofa. Taz noticed that a couple of the scientists were staring at her, no doubt wondering if all of the rumours were true, but at least they weren't harassing her, something which couldn't be said if she returned to her own dorm.

Taz ignored them and watched Jennifer opened the book, and she realised that it was a photo album. The first page had pictures of two children on it, a teenaged boy dressed in a red t-shirt, baggy denim shorts and a baseball cap, with a little girl up to his waist wearing bright pink head-to-toe. They were standing in a busy street, towering skyscrapers all around them.

'My parents chose the outfit!' laughed Jennifer.

'That's you?' asked Taz.

'And Mark,' nodded Jennifer. 'I was five and he was fourteen. Our parents took us on a trip to New York.'

Jennifer turned the pages, revealing more pictures. Taz noticed that every single picture had Mark in it, some with Jennifer, some with their parents or other family members and some on his own.

'Do you miss him?' asked Taz.

'Every day,' nodded Jennifer. Taz knew exactly what she meant. Not a day went past where she didn't think of Hugo.

'Does it get easier?' she asked.

'Yeah,' said Jennifer. 'It never quite goes away, but with time I've learned that I have to be happy and do things that would make him proud. Nothing can take away the pain of losing someone you love, but knowing you're doing something he'd be proud of makes most of the pain go away.'

'Hugo wanted me to be a Starship Ranger,' confessed Taz.

'Your brother?'

Taz nodded.

'He'd be so proud of you,' smiled Jennifer. 'You're the youngest cadet ever at the Academy, not to mention one of the best in our year.'

'Thanks,' said Taz.

'Hey, look at this one!' Jennifer pointed to the next picture. An eighteen year-old Mark was dressed in a smart cadet uniform. There were a few minor differences to the uniforms worn today, but it was still essentially the same khaki green outfit. 'That was taken on his first day as a cadet.'

There were a few pictures of Mark in his uniform with various family members, no doubt all gathered to say goodbye as he went off to train for four years at the Academy.

'You'll like the next one,' said Jennifer, flicking the page over. 'Mark sent us pictures throughout the time he was away. This one was halfway through his second year.'

Taz looked at the photo which showed two cadets, their arms around each other's shoulders in a friendly way and grins on their faces. She recognised Mark immediately, but it wasn't until she noticed the bright blue eyes of the other cadet that she worked out who he was.

'Is that Up?' gasped Taz.

'Yep,' nodded Jennifer.

Taz leaned forwards to examine the photo more clearly. Now that she'd noticed, it seemed obvious it was Up. The same blue eyes stared up at her and his facial features were recognisable. But the Up in this picture was so different to the Up Taz knew. His brown hair wasn't spiky, and was much shorter than it was now, and he didn't have the small brown moustache that he wore on his upper lip now. There was also a huge physical difference. Though the Up in the photo was well-built, his muscles were nowhere near as well defined as they were now and his skin bore no battle scars.

But the biggest difference was the expression on his face. In the four months she'd known him, Taz had never seen Up look so relaxed and happy. The look in his eyes was one of innocence and naivety, a look which showed Taz he had not yet had to bear the pain of watching his comrades die, of losing his best friend to the robots.

'He looks so different,' said Taz softly. The photo made her truly realise how much Up had gone through in the last seven years for so much to change. 'He's so young.'

'He was eighteen, and Mark was nineteen,' said Jennifer. 'So much has happened since then.' Jennifer carefully unstuck the photo from the page and gave it to Taz.

'What?' asked Taz.

'You take it,' said Jennifer. 'Give it to Up.'

'But these are all you have left of your brother,' protested Taz.

'I've got all these other photos. That one will mean more to Up than it does to me.'

Taz was about to put it in her pocket when she noticed some writing on the back. She squinted at the faded pencil writing.

Jen,

This is my best friend, Up. I've only known him a couple of weeks, but we get on so well. He's such a nice guy.

Miss you loads,

Mark

'Me and Up aren't speaking at the moment,' said Taz awkwardly.

'Keep it and give it to him when you are talking again,' said Jennifer. 'Please, I want him to have it.'

'Okay,' said Taz reluctantly.

'Hey, look! There's more photos of Up.'

Jennifer spent the rest of the evening showing Taz the rest of the photos, many of which contained Up. When they reached the end of the album, the two girls sat on the sofa and talked, mostly about their brothers. While Jennifer told Taz about all of the letters she has received from Mark while he was training at the Academy, which had told her all about the things he'd got up to as a cadet, Taz told Jennifer the stories of the games Hugo and Taz had played together as children in the alleys and streets by their rundown house in the Mexican village. Taz found it really relieving to be able to talk to someone about Hugo. She wouldn't have felt comfortable talking to any of the other cadets about her dead brother, and she only ever mentioned Hugo's name briefly in front of Up because she didn't know how sensitive a topic it was around him. It was nice to finally be able to talk about the person who'd been Taz's rolemodel throughout her childhood, particularly once he had left to train at the Academy, and sharing her experiences with somebody who had been through the trauma of losing an older brother made the conversation so much easier and more comfortable than it would have been with anybody else.

The rest of the scientists began to arrive back at the dorm when the library closed at ten so Taz said goodbye to Jennifer, who said she would meet Taz outside her dorm before breakfast the following morning. Taz returned to her own dormitory, grabbing a Spanish book out of her locker before swiftly crossing the room and climbing up to her bunk. She drew the curtain across the entrance to the cubby hole, wanting to hide herself from the rest of the cadets, in particular, Scott, Riley and Tony. She didn't know how she would react if she saw them, whether she'd be able to ignore them calmly and take the upper ground, or if she would feel the need to get one back on them.

Fortunately, Taz managed to make it through the night without being kidnapped by her enemies and made a fool of in front of the whole Academy. When she woke up, Taz dressed in her cadet uniform quickly and checked out her black eye in the mirror in the bathroom, which she was relieved to see had faded slightly since the previous day.

'Hey, Taz,' said Tom coldly as he walked into the bathroom with his towel draped over his arm and a bar of soap in his hand. Taz hadn't spoken to either Tom or Hayden since they'd abandoned her and told her that they didn't want to be friends anymore at dinner the previous evening.

'What?' growled Taz.

'Lover boy is waiting outside the dorm for you,' said Tom.

'Who?'

'Lieutenant Up,' explained Tom.

'He's not my lover boy,' protested Taz.

'Sure,' said Tom disbelievingly, disappearing into a shower cubicle and drawing the curtain across it.

Taz left the bathroom and made sure that her cubby hole was in order before leaving the dorm. Sure enough, Up was leaning against the wall to the right of the door, waiting for her.

'For Dead-God's sake!' moaned Taz. 'If you come and meet me at my dorm in the morning, people are actually going to believe we're together.'

'People believe we're together anyway,' pointed out Up.

'I wonder why,' said Taz sarcastically, raising her eyebrows at Up.

'Well if you'd turned up to my office last night like I told you to, then I wouldn't have to come and find you,' said Up irritably.

Taz remembered that Up had asked her to go to his office the previous evening. Following their argument in the medical centre, Taz probably wouldn't have gone anyway, but her evening with Jennifer had caused the meeting to slip from her mind completely.

'I forgot,' said Taz.

'Yeah, of course you did,' said Up, clearly not believing Taz. 'I told you we have a meeting with the Ambassador this morning about the incident yesterday and now we're going to have to speak to him without discussing it with each other first!'

'Well sorry for being too busy to come and see you!' retorted Taz.

'Busy?' scoffed Up. 'Doing what? Feeling sorry for yourself?'

'No, I took your advice!'

'What advice?' asked Up.

The dormitory door opened and two cadets left, giving the pair a strange look. Taz realised that their raised voices could probably be heard inside the dorm and continued the argument in a hushed voice.

'You told me to make other friends so I did,' said Taz.

'You made other friends?' asked Up incredulously Taz. 'Please, Taz, tell the truth. I'll be made Head of the Galactic League before you make any other friends.'

'Hey Taz!'

Taz smirked triumphantly as Jennifer appeared from around the corner behind Up. Taz pushed past him and made a big show of hugging Jennifer, before uncharacteristically linking her arm through the scientist's. As the two girls walked away from the dorm and towards the dining hall for breakfast, Taz looked over her shoulder back at Up, whose mouth was wide open in surprise.

After sending him an 'I told you so' look, Taz turned to face the front once more and listened to what Jennifer was saying.


	14. Chapter 14

_Thanks for all your support! Enjoy the next chapter!_

**Chapter 14**

Taz and Jennifer sat alone on a table in the dining hall to eat breakfast and continued to talk. Taz couldn't believe that she'd never had a proper friend her own age before. In Mexico, she had never really got on with the other girls in her class at school. She had always been a tomboy and had chosen to hang out with the boys instead, playing football and getting into fights. But even the boys weren't really what she'd call friends.

When she stopped bothering with school aged thirteen, the boys had continued to be her playmates on the streets, but Taz had nobody that she was close to since Hugo had left for the Academy when she was ten.

Up had been the next person that Taz considered herself to be close to, but despite how well they usually got on and how much they had in common, the fact that Taz was only fifteen while Up was ten years her senior meant that their relationship was more like teacher and student, or perhaps like an uncle and his favourite niece.

Though Taz didn't really know Jennifer that well, she felt a strange rush of affection for the blonde-haired scientist. It was an unusual feeling that Taz wasn't used to, but she knew that she'd stick by Jennifer and wanted to spend more time with her. It seemed that Taz had finally, after fifteen years of deliberately shunning people her own age out of her life, found a friend of a similar age.

The two girls had to separate after breakfast. Being in different divisions of the Academy meant that they had no classes together. Although Taz had a couple of lessons with scientists, such as English and Galactic Geography, Jennifer was in a different group for those classes. Taz said goodbye to Jennifer and went to calculus.

Fortunately, only two members of Scott's gang were in her calculus class, Tony, the weediest of the three in Taz's dorm, and a tall lanky boy from another dorm that Taz didn't know the name of. Though they jeered at her as she walked in, much to the amusement of a few of the others in the class, Taz walked straight past them and sat down at her own desk in the back corner. She was proud of herself for rising above them, knowing that she would have responded and started a fight with them less than twenty-four hours earlier. Maybe having a friend her own age was having a positive effect on Taz.

Taz knew that she had a meeting with the Ambassador of the Academy at some point this morning, but her arguments with Up meant that they hadn't spoken for long enough for her to be able to find out just what time this meeting was. It was to Taz's relief, therefore, that there was a knock on the classroom door half an hour into calculus and a fourth year cadet entered.

'Sir,' the cadet addressed the teacher. 'Can Cadet Taz be excused to go and see the Ambassador?'

The whole class started muttering amongst themselves as the teacher gave his consent. Taz collected her books and pens and put them into her bag, getting up from the desk and making her way to the front.

Taz followed the fourth year cadet out of the classroom and around the corner, where she found Up waiting for her.

'Thanks,' Up said to the cadet, who left the two of them alone.

They started walking towards the Ambassador's office.

'I didn't want you to skive off a meeting again so I decided to fetch you personally,' said Up. 'And so that nobody would make any comments about us, I got that cadet to do it for me.'

'Thanks for being so considerate,' replied Taz sarcastically.

'Taz, why are you being like this?' sighed Up.

'You told me you didn't want us to be friends so that's what I'm doing.'

'I never said that,' said Up. 'I said that I thought it was a good idea for you to make other friends too. And you did. I'm impressed, Taz. I never thought you'd do it.'

'So you take back what you said earlier?' asked Taz.

'Take back what?' asked Up.

'You said that you'd become Head of the Galactic League before I made any friends.'

'Yes I take it back,' sighed Up.

'Good,' nodded Taz.

'So, who is this friend?' asked Up, trying a bit too hard to sound interested.

'She's called Jennifer,' said Taz. She decided that if Up hadn't recognised Jennifer as Mark's brother then it was perhaps best not mention that detail yet.

'And she's a scientist?' asked Up.

'_Si_,' nodded Taz.

'Well that's a bit of a surprise too,' said Up.

'We have a lot in common,' shrugged Taz.

'I'm happy for you, Taz. I think a friend your age is just what you need.'

They reached the door of the Ambassador's office and stopped outside.

'Right, Taz,' said Up, placing his hands of Taz's shoulders as if he was a coach giving her important advice before a sports event. 'We haven't been able to go over our statements, so I just want you to tell the Ambassador exactly what happened. With any luck, those idiots will be punished for what they did to you.'

Up turned to the door and rapped on it sharply.

'Come in!' called the Ambassador.

Up opened the door and stepped inside, Taz right behind him.

'Take a seat,' said the Ambassador, pointing to the two seats opposite his desk. As Taz and Up sat down, the Ambassador pulled out a notepad and a pen.

'So Cadet Taz, I understand there was an incident the other night,' he said, looking up at Taz earnestly.

'Yes,' nodded Taz.

'Would you like to tell me what happened?'

'I was sleeping in my bed and then I was woken by some _idiotas_ who blindfolded me and dragged me out of the dorm,' explained Taz. 'I remember being hung upside down and then somebody punched me. That's all I remember.'

'And do you know who it was that did this to you?' asked the Ambassador.

'Not a clue,' lied Taz.

'Taz...' started Up.

'I don't know who it could have been,' added Taz, looking at Up pointedly.

'Taz, you can't say...'

'Lieutenant,' the Ambassador interrupted Up. 'I invited you here because you are Cadet Taz's mentor. I'd like it if you let her answer the questions, or I'll have to ask you to leave.'

Taz shot a triumphant look at Up, who glared at her, folded his muscly arms across his chest and sulked at being told off by his superior officer.

'So you have no idea who it was?' the Ambassador asked Taz.

'No,' said Taz. 'It was dark and they blindfolded me straight away so I didn't see their faces. There were a few of them though, maybe five or six. And they were strong. Boys, I'd guess.'

'From your dorm?' asked the Ambassador.

'I don't know,' said Taz. 'It wouldn't be hard for others to get into the dorm. They aren't locked.'

'Okay, thank you Taz,' said the Ambassador. He turned to Up, who was still sulking. 'Now, I hope you both understand that I have to investigate the allegations of an inappropriate relationship between you. It's just standard Galactic League procedure. I'm going to speak to each of you individually, and it may take up to a week for a decision to be made.'

'And what happens then?' asked Up.

'As you both know, any relationship beyond friendship between a teacher and a student at the Academy is forbidden. If we find you innocent, nothing will change and there would be no change to your personal records. If you are found guilty, we will have no choice but to ask you both to leave the Galactic League.'

Taz glanced at Up and they shared the same worried look. Though there was nothing going on between them, she was still worried that the Ambassador would take the close bond they shared as something more than it actually was.

'Lieutenant Up, I'll start with you,' said the Ambassador. 'Cadet, could you wait outside until I call you in please?'

Taz left the office and sat on one of the hard plastic chairs outside the door. Somebody would occasionally walk past her down the corridor, shooting her a curious glance as they wondered whether she was in trouble for something serious. Pretty much everyone in the Academy knew who she was now, and Taz had heard several rumours that the Ambassador was going to kick her out for her relationship with Up.

Taz glanced at the office door and wondered what was going on inside. She knew that Up's entire life depended on being a Starship Ranger and that he would make sure that the Ambassador knew that nothing was going on between them, but one little mistake could lead to the Ambassador believing that there was more to their relationship.

After about ten minutes, Up emerged from the office looking stressed and held the door open for Taz to go in. She went back into the office and sat back down on the chair opposite the Ambassador, letting Up close the door behind her.

'So, Taz,' said the Ambassador, getting a fresh piece of paper and scribbling something illegible at the top before underlining it twice. 'I trust you've heard the allegations about you and Up.'

'Yes,' nodded Taz. She didn't know what to say, so she decided to just stick to the truth.

'And we've already established that you don't know who did that to you the other night, but do you know why somebody would write that on a t-shirt and put it on you?' asked the Ambassador.

'No,' said Taz. 'Up and I are just friends.'

'Was this the first time that people have commented on the nature of the relationship between you and Up?' asked the Ambassador.

'No,' admitted Taz reluctantly.

'Explain,' the Ambassador prompted her.

'Some of the other cadets have been making little comments about us since I started at the Academy,' explained Taz. 'Little things, like wolfwhistling at us in combat class, or asking me questions about Up.'

'What questions do they ask?'

'Do I have to answer that?' asked Taz, raising her eyebrows.

'Yes please.'

Taz sighed and looked away, blushing. 'When I'm alone they ask why I'm not with him or they ask ... they ask if Up's finally got bored of being with me.'

'Why do you think they ask these questions?'

'I don't know,' said Taz exasperatedly.

'There must be something you've done to warrant this,' said the Ambassador.

'I haven't done anything!' protested Taz. 'Just...' Taz paused and sighed again.

'Just what?' asked the Ambassador, interestedly.

'Well I'm the only girl in my dorm,' explained Taz. 'I remember on my first day, one of the boys tried chatting me up and I told him I wasn't interested. Then he found out who I was and said that he'd heard stuff about me and Up. I guess he was annoyed that I'd turned him down so he thought he'd make up some crap about me.'

'Okay,' said the Ambassador, jotting this down on the paper. He looked back up at Taz. 'Has anything ever happened between you and Up? Anything of a more intimate nature?'

'No,' said Taz firmly.

'You two seem pretty close for two people who have only known each other a few months.'

Taz knew that the Ambassador had to be intrusive to make sure he got any hidden details out of her, but it was still annoying to have to repeat the same things over and over again.

'We're just best friends,' Taz repeated, though she wasn't sure that was true anymore. They had hardly spoken in the last 24 hours, and when they had it was more arguing than actually talking to each other.

'Why are you so close?'

'We have so much in common,' said Taz. 'We're both determined, hard-working, ambitious. Neither of us has any family so we turn to each other. Me and Up, we're like family. He's like ...'

Taz didn't want to continue the rest of the sentence, feeling the familiar burning in her eyes. She blinked rapidly, not wanting to cry.

'He's like what?' asked the Ambassador.

'He saved me from the robots,' said Taz. 'My brother died that day and Up made a promise to him that he'd look after me. And he has. What Up and I share is like what I shared with my brother when he was alive.'

Taz didn't bother to try and stop the tears now. They just fell.

'When I was little, Hugo was my hero. He was a Starship Ranger and I wanted to do everything I could to be like him. And now he's gone I don't have him to guide me. But I have Up. He helps me when I can't do my homework. He trains with me in the gym so I can get as strong as the other cadets. All of these things, I wish I could do with Hugo. But I can't, and Up understands that. He knows I need that person to look up to, and he's taking that place. And I don't see how anybody could think there's more going on between me and Up. He's ten years older than me. People say that he's more than my mentor, and they're right, but not in the way that they think. Up isn't the person I want to be with, he's the person I want to be. He is my inspiration, the one who drives me to get out of bed each day and ignore the bullies so I can become the best Starship Ranger. Up is my hero. There's nothing to it other than that.'

The Ambassador had long since stopped taking notes. He looked at Taz with his mouth wide open in shock.

'Wow,' he said softly. He came to his senses and started to scribble something down. He spoke as he wrote. 'Thank you Cadet. I think that'll be all for now. You can call Lieutenant Up back in.'

Taz opened the door and sat back down, avoiding Up's gaze as he sat down beside her.

'Thank you both,' said the Ambassador. 'I'll let you know the results of the investigation within the next couple of days, but I think I can see which way it's going to go.'

Out of the corner of her eye, Taz could see Up shoot a worried glance her way and she knew he was concerned that she'd said something to make the Ambassador think there was something going on between them.

'You can leave now,' said the Ambassador.

Taz and Up both rose to their feet and left the office.

'Oh, and Lieutenant?' the Ambassador called after them.

'Yes, sir?' Up turned around.

'I'll look into those names that you gave me.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Up closed the door behind him and the pair of them started walking down the corridor, away from the office.

'What does he mean, he'll look into those names you gave him?' asked Taz nosily, looking at him.

'I just thought that ... Taz, have you been crying?' asked Up, noticing Taz's red puffy eyes for the first time.

'A little,' admitted Taz. She wiped at her eyes, trying to get rid of any traces of her earlier tears. She didn't want anybody thinking she was weak.

'What did the Ambassador say to you?' asked Up protectively.

'He didn't say anything.'

'Then why are you crying?'

'I told him the truth,' shrugged Taz. 'Everything, even all about Hugo. If he still doesn't believe me then there's nothing I could have done to get us out of this mess.'

'Oh,' said Up. 'Thanks then, I guess.'

'Anyway, don't think that you can change the subject and I'll forget what we were talking about,' said Taz. 'What did the Ambassador mean?'

Up cringed. 'I gave him the names of the boys who took you from your bed the other night.'

'You did what?' Taz stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the empty corridor they were walking down.

'Well if you'd told him in the first place, I wouldn't have had to!' said Up defensively.

Taz let out a yell of rage.

'You stupid ... you're such a big _idiota_!' Taz turned away and kicked the wall in anger, regretting it immediately as pain shot through her foot.

'He needed to know so that they can be punished!'

'No!' yelled Taz frustratedly. 'What's he gonna do to them? He's not going kick all seven _hijos de puta_ out of the Academy. Which means that they'll get a little punishment, think it was me who grasses them out and then do something even worse!'

Up considered this for a moment. 'I guess,' he said sheepishly.

'Exactly!' Taz snapped at him. 'So all you've done is landed me in even deeper shit than before. I thought mentors were supposed to help their cadets!'

'I was trying to help Taz!' protested Up.

'You didn't though! You've just made sure that Scott is going to come after me again. You've made things even worse for me!'

'I'm sorry, Taz...' Up started.

'You know what, Lieutenant,' Taz spat his title out with complete contempt. 'Anybody who thinks there's something going on between us is stupid because anybody would have to be out of their mind to have a relationship with you!'

Taz stormed away in the direction of the gym, where her next class would take place. She was completely unaware that someone had been peering around a corner at the opposite end of the corridor, having witnessed the whole argument.

_Who could that have been spying on Taz and Up? ;)_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Taz went down to lunch feeling much more relieved after her gym session. The group was mixed ability, with about fifty students from all years and coming from all three divisions put together in one class. They were occasionally split up within the group into either their divisions or their year groups, but today had been a day where they'd just been left to train of their own accord. Taz had spent a good deal of the lesson at the punchbags, pretending it was Up's face as she pummelled her fists into the heavy sack.

At lunch, Taz told Jennifer all about the meeting with the Ambassador, relaying the conversations back to her. Taz was comfortable repeating to Jennifer what she'd said about Hugo and Up, and knew that she wouldn't have told anybody else, even Up if they'd still been talking.

'I think you've done enough to convince him,' said Jennifer. 'You say that he said he had a good idea which way the decision is going to go. You definitely didn't say anything wrong so I think he's made up his mind that there's nothing going on.'

'You really think so?' asked Taz.

'Yeah,' nodded Jennifer. 'I mean, anybody just has to look at you and Up now and it's obvious you're not getting on at the moment.'

'We had another argument,' confessed Taz, and she told Jennifer about the argument they'd had after the Ambassador's meeting.

'So now Scott and his gang of idiots is going to think it was you who grassed them up and will want even more revenge,' concluded Jennifer once Taz had explained what Up had told the Ambassador.

'Exactly,' said Taz. 'It'll be just like last time, but worse.'

'Worse?' asked Jennifer. 'I think it'll be better.'

'Why?'

'Because there's two of us this time,' smiled Jennifer.

'You can't watch over me while I sleep,' said Taz.

'No I can't,' admitted Jennifer. 'But together we can prove to them how nothing they can do is ever going to stop you becoming the best starship ranger the Academy has ever seen.'

Jennifer grinned at Taz, who reluctantly let a little smile form on her lips.

Taz went to her afternoon classes, with the exception of her mentor session with Up, during which she hid behind the dumpster on the far side of the sports field and read one of her Spanish books. Yet just as she was folding over the corner of the page to mark her place for later on and getting up to go to her next class, she thought she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye in the doorway of a disused outbuilding on the other side of the dumpster. Taz stared for a moment, wondering if she'd just been seeing things, but sure enough, a pair of eyes peered through the crack in the door. Noticing that Taz was staring, the person who the eyes belonged to ducked out of sight.

Intrigued, Taz jogged over to the building and opened the door, looking for the person who'd been watching her. The building had one room, which was dark and full of old furniture like chairs and tables, as well as old sports equipment. Taz stepped inside and started to look around for whoever it was, but there was no sign of them.

Hearing the bell signaling the lesson changeover in the distance from the main building of the Academy, Taz gave up looking for the person and left, returning to her classes. Yet the question of who had been watching her puzzled her for the whole afternoon.

* * *

When Taz returned to her own dormitory that evening, she could hear the commotion inside before she'd even opened the door. The difference between Taz's dorm and Jennifer's was astounding. Even though the dorm Taz had just left had been full of scientists, there had been less noise in there than there was in Taz's own dorm when there were only two cadets in there. Taz found it unbelievable.

Taz reluctantly opened the door and walked inside, hoping that the current fight taking place would distract the other cadets from her presence and mean that she could get into her cubby hole without being hurled an insult or two.

Taz had no such luck, however. The fight in question was taking place right beneath Taz's cubby hole. She wasn't surprised to see that Scott was involved, as were his two cronies, Riley and Tony, but she was shocked to see that the two cadets they were fighting with were Tom and Hayden, who were usually quiet and kept themselves to themselves when fights broke out.

The biggest shock, however, was when Taz realised that because the fight was taking place right next to her own bed, the possessions she kept on the little shelf in the back wall of her cubby hole.

'Hey!' shouted Taz, charging straight over to the rowdy group of boys. Tom, who had a split lip and blood on his face, was caught in some kind of headlock with Scott, while Hayden was trying to fend of Riley, the biggest o the three.

'Hey!' yelled Taz again, grabbing Scott around the waist and pulling him away from Tom. She might only be little, but she was quite strong and she caught Scott by surprise.

'What the hell is going on here?' she demanded. The whole dormitory fell silent. Taz looked down at the floor. Her pillow was in shreds, the feathers strewn everywhere. The books she kept beside her bed had had pages ripped out which may on the floor with the feathers and the remains of the pillow, and the disk of the Karate Kid had been cracked in two.

'They just walked over to your bed and started destroying your stuff,' spat Tom, straightening his shirt and trying to catch his breath. 'We tried to stop them.'

'Why did you do this?' Taz asked Scott. 'What have I done to you? You already got your revenge on me. Was humiliating me in front of everyone not enough?'

'You grassed on us to the Ambassador,' sneered Scott. 'We've got to go to Commander Rose's punishment sessions on Sunday afternoons every week until Christmas because of you.'

'I didn't grass on you,' said Taz.

'How else would the Ambassador know it was us?' demanded Scott.

Taz wasn't going to tell them it had been Up because bringing his name into the conversation would just result in more humiliation on her part.

'The Ambassador asked me who it was and I said it was and I said I didn't know,' said Taz. 'It must have been someone else. The whole Academy knows it was you. All the Ambassador had to do was ask someone scared of lying to him and he'd find out the truth.'

As Scott considered this, something caught Taz's eye. Among the debris of her possessions on the floor, ripped cleanly in half, was a photo of Taz and Hugo.

'No...' breathed Taz, bending down to pick up the two halves of the photo. She held them up so that they fitted back together, shaking her head. It was her favourite photo of her and Hugo.

'You didn't...' growled Taz. She dropped both halves of the photo and launched herself at Scott, forgetting everything that Up had taught her in combat class and just trying to claw at Scott's face.

'You cabrón!' she yelled. 'You piece of shit!'

Taz felt somebody grab her from behind and drag her away from Scott, and she tried her hardest to break away from them and attack him once more, but they were too strong for her.

'Taz, calm down,' Tom's voice whispered in her ear and she realised it must have been him who had stopped her from hurting Scott.

'Let go of me!' she screamed.

'Taz, come with me,' said Tom calmly.

Taz let Tom lead her away from Scott and out of the dormitory. They walked away from the whole living area of the Academy and into the area where all of the classrooms were. Tom led Taz into an empty one and sat her into a chair.

'You just need time to calm down,' Tom told her. 'Wait until you feel less angry, and then we'll go back and sort this out.'

Taz sat in silence, the rage bubbling inside of her. How dare Scott rip that photo of her and Hugo! She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, willing the anger to subside.

She didn't know how long had passed when Hayden walked into the classroom.

'Oh, here you are,' he said. 'I was wondering where you'd got to.'

'Taz is calming down,' said Tom.

'I tidied all your things onto your bed, Taz,' said Hayden. 'They're still ripped up, and we'll have to get you a new pillow from somewhere, but none of it is on the floor anymore.'

'Thanks Hayden,' said Tom.

'I picked up the photo,' added Hayden. Taz looked up and he was holding the two parts out to her. She took them off him.

'Thank you,' she muttered softly.

'That's you, isn't it?' asked Hayden.

'I was ten,' nodded Taz.

'And is he your brother? He looks just like you.'

'He_ was_ my brother,' replied Taz softly. 'He's dead now.'

'I'm sorry,' said Hayden.

'This was taken the day before he left to come here,' said Taz. She didn't know why she was opening up to the two boys that she hardly knew, especially after they'd argued with her a few days ago.

'He was a Starship Ranger too?' asked Tom.

'_Si_. The robots killed him.'

'On our first day at the Academy, you told me that you got into the Academy because you killed some robots,' said Tom.

'Yeah,' nodded Hayden. 'You said it the other day as well.'

'Was that the same attack that he … your brother …'

'There were two attacks. He died in the first, I killed the robots in the second.'

'Taz, about the whole Up situation…' started Tom.

'I don't want to talk about it right now,' said Taz.

'We want to apologise,' blurted Hayden.

'For what?' asked Taz.

'We jumped to conclusions about you and Up,' said Tom. 'It's just all those rumours were going around and it all fitted together, but we just forgot what you were like and that you wouldn't do that. We should have realized that you wouldn't just risk your whole future as a Starship Ranger for Lieutenant Up.'

'We were talking about it earlier,' said Hayden. 'We were going to apologise to you when you got back to the dorm tonight, but then Scott started destroying your stuff so we got up to stop him.'

'That's what was going on when you got back,' said Tom.

'Thanks,' said Taz, quietly.

'We were hoping, if you're willing to take us back, that we could be friends again,' said Tom. 'I mean, we're the only three underage cadets in our dormitory. We're all kind of rejects.'

'I think I'd like that,' said Taz quietly.

'Would your new scientist friend be okay with that?' asked Hayden.

'I'll introduce you to Jennifer tomorrow,' said Taz. 'But I think she'd like you.'

'We'll be like a little band of misfits,' laughed Tom.

'Yeah, I guess,' said Taz, letting a little smile fall on her lips.

'Hey, what's that?' said Tom, suddenly. He got to his feet and walked over to the door, peering down the corridor.

'What?' asked Hayden, jumping up to join him.

'I swear I just saw somebody watching us from the shadows over there,' frowned Tom.

'You must be seeing stuff, mate,' said Hayden. 'I don't see anything.'

'Did you see them Taz?' asked Tom.

Taz shook her head, but her mind was buzzing with confusion. She believed Tom, and even though she hadn't seen the person, she knew it must be the same person who had been watching her by the dumpster earlier. Which brought her two questions; who was stalking her and what did they want?


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

It was almost midnight when Taz, Tom and Hayden snuck back to their dormitory. It was well after curfew, but they managed to get back without being caught and even took a detour to one of the supply cupboards, getting Taz a replacement pillow. They woke up earlier than normal the following morning to clean up the mess left as a result of the fight. Taz kept the two halves of the photograph, intending to find some tape to stick them back together later on.

The three of them went to breakfast together, finding Jennifer already at a table on her own.

'Jennifer, this is Tom and Hayden,' said Taz, as she sat down. 'Boys, this is Jennifer.'

'Hi,' said Jennifer, smiling warmly before hissing at Taz, 'I thought you didn't like these two anymore.'

'We've sorted it out now,' said Taz.

'Well if you like them, I'll make an effort,' said Jennifer. She turned to the two boys. 'So, how are you finding the Academy so far?' she asked them.

As Tom and Hayden replied, Jennifer glanced over at Taz, who gave her a tiny nod of the head to show that she was doing the right thing.

* * *

Though it was over a month after all of the other friendship groups between the first years at the Academy had formed, Taz was happy with her new friendship group. The boys and Jennifer took an immediate liking to each other and the four of them gelled well together, united by the fact that nobody else in the Academy really talked to them. They were seen as the weirdos, the ones that didn't fit in, but even though everybody else kept their distance from them, it didn't matter because they had each other now.

However, there was one person who didn't behave like everybody else in the Academy, and it was Taz's mysterious stalker. Taz found out at lunch on the day that she introduced Tom and Hayden to Jennifer that she wasn't the only one with a follower.

'I'm certain that somebody has been following me over the last couple of days,' commented Jennifer, as the four of them sat at their table in the cafeteria.

'Really?' asked Taz, her head snapping up in interest.

'Yeah,' nodded Jennifer. 'I haven't seen who it is, but I keep getting that feeling that somebody is watching me. Like all the hairs on my neck stand up. And yesterday, it happened and I looked around and I'm sure I saw somebody run out of sight. When I tried to follow them, there was nobody there.'

'The same thing happened to me!' exclaimed Taz, and she explained what had happened by the dumpster the day before. 'When I went into the building to look for them, they weren't there.'

'And there was that guy watching us last night when we were sitting in that classroom calming down,' added Tom.

'You were seeing things, Tom,' said Hayden.

'You can't say that after Taz and Jennifer have told us that they've seen somebody watching them too!' protested Tom.

'You think they're the same person?' asked Jennifer.

'Obviously,' said Taz.

'There isn't going to be more than one creepy stalker around here,' pointed out Tom.

'Do you reckon it's Scott?' asked Jennifer, worriedly. 'He's harassed Taz enough already. He could still be at it.'

'I didn't see the face of the guy watching us last night, because he was standing in the shadows, but he was too small to be Scott, or any of the other big cadets,' said Tom, shaking his head. 'Besides, Scott has a very physical approach. This isn't his style.'

'Why would anybody be following us?' sighed Jennifer, looking puzzled.

'Not us,' said Tom. 'Just you and Taz.'

'Do you think it's a boy?' asked Taz.

'If they're just following you girls, I'd guess so,' nodded Tom. He suddenly looked confused. 'Hayden, what are you doing?'

Hayden was squinting around the cafeteria at the other students, as if scanning for somebody.

'I'm looking around to see if anyone's watching us,' replied Hayden. 'They might be this stalker guy.'

'And?' asked Tom.

'Don't turn around now, but there's a guy who keeps staring at us,' said Hayden softly. The two girls had their backs to the rest of the cafeteria but Tom had a clear view of everybody else and narrowed his eyes, looking for the person that Hayden was talking about.

'Where?' he asked.

'The guy sitting on the table on his own, three tables to the left of the serving counter,' replied Hayden.

'The one with the curly hair?' asked Tom.

'Yeah,' nodded Hayden. 'Don't make it too obvious you're watching him, he keeps looking over to us.'

'Oh, shit,' muttered Tom, looking away hurriedly. 'He's looking at us again.'

Taz's curiosity got the better of her and she turned around to see who this person was.

'Taz, we told you not to look!' hissed Hayden.

But it was too late. Taz spotted the boy they were talking about immediately. She recognised him, having seen him around the Academy before, but she'd never spoken to him. Judging by his black overalls, he was a mechanical engineer, and he was small with a mop of light brown curly hair atop his head. Upon seeing Taz looking at him and realising that he'd been caught staring, his eyes widened in horror and he got to his feet immediately, taking his tray of food over to the rack by the entrance to the kitchen and hurrying out of the cafeteria.

'I'm going after him,' said Taz, getting up from the table and chasing after the boy, leaving her own tray on the table behind her.

'Taz!' shouted Tom after her, causing the people on the neighbouring tables to look up as Taz left the cafeteria hurriedly.

As soon as she was out in the main corridor, she set of in a jog in the direction she'd seen him turn. Fortunately, the training she'd been doing over the last couple of months paid off, training which the boy hadn't been doing in his schedule as a mechanic, and she caught him easily, grabbing the scruff of his collar and pinning him against the wall. She was a few inches shorter than him, but he was still helpless against her.

'What's your problem, you idiota?' she growled at him.

'I ... I don't know what you mean!' he spluttered, his eyes wide in fear.

'You've been following me around, and Jennifer too,' snapped Taz.

'I ... I don't know what you mean,' he stammered.

'Don't lie to me, or I'll hurt you!'

'Fine!' the boy admitted, giving in a lot easier than Taz expected. Having dealt with tough skinned cadets for two months, finding somebody so weak and helpless was a surprise, and she almost felt sorry for him.

'Yes, I've followed you around, but only a couple of times and I only follow you around because I'm jealous of your friendship and how you ignore what people say to you and I wish I had the courage to ask to be your friend,' blurted the boy, so fast that Taz struggled to understand him. Her English had improved a lot, but he had spoken so fast that some words were unclear. That and the fact that what she'd heard didn't seem right.

'Please don't hit me,' begged the boy helplessly.

'You just want to be my friend?' asked Taz.

'I...' started the boy, but they were interrupted.

'What's going on here?'

Taz let to of the boy suddenly at the sound of the familiar Southern drawl and turned to find Up striding towards them down the corridor.

'Nothing,' said Taz quickly, as the boy straightened his uniform.

'Really?' asked Up narrowing his eyes at Taz.

'We were just having a chat,' said Taz.

'Just a chat?' queried Up. He turned to the boy. 'Is that right?'

The boy gulped, glancing quickly at Taz, who glared at him, before turning back to Up an nodding. 'Just a chat, Lieutenant.'

'Very well,' said Up, his eyes still narrowed. He clearly didn't believe either of them. 'Cadet Taz, I want you in my office now.'

'But...' protested Taz.

'No buts,' said Up, putting a firm hand on her shoulder and leading her away towards her shoulder. She turned as she went, glaring at the terrified mechanic to indicate that she wasn't finished with him yet, and he fled from the scene as fast as he could.

Once in Up's office, Up sat Taz down in the chair opposite his desk, which he sat behind, giving Taz a look which probably would have been intimidating if she wasn't glaring at him angrily back.

'Just having a chat, then?' asked Up.

Taz rolled her eyes. 'Yes.'

'Is he a new friend of yours?'

'Yes,' lied Taz.

'What's his name?' asked Up, raising an eyebrow.

Taz could have sworn, but she held her tongue. Up smirked triumphantly, knowing that he'd caught Taz out. She only knew the names of a few mechanics, and they were the ones in a couple of her mixed division classes. This boy hadn't been one of them.

'Well?' demanded Up.

'I don't know,' admitted Taz.

'Don't you think that poor boy has a hard enough time with all of the bigger cadets picking on him? He's got it bad enough without you joining in too.'

'I'm not picking on him!' protested Taz.

'What were you doing to him, then?' asked Up.

'Just talking to him,' Taz repeated her cover story.

'The truth, Taz.'

'He's been following me around,' Taz admitted with a sigh. 'I wanted to know why.'

'By using force and violence?' asked Up. 'There are better ways of sorting things out that pinning the guy to the wall.'

'He's a creep! He's been watching me!'

'Have you considered the possibility that he admires you?' suggested Up. He was surprisingly calm, his earlier anger completely gone.

'Why would anyone admire me?' snorted Taz.

'You stand up to people,' said Up. 'You're brave, you're hard-working, and even though you aren't very popular, you don't let it bother you. I don't know who that guy is, but I do know that he has no friends and that he gets bullied. I think he probably admires the way that you don't let other people hurt you.'

'Why can't he just tell me that, instead of following me like a creepy stalker?' asked Taz.

'Not everyone is as confident and care-free as you,' replied Up. 'Maybe he's scared you'll tell him to go away if he talks to you, just like everyone else does. I think you need to sort this out by apologising to him and inviting him over to sit with you at dinner tonight.'

'Fine,' conceded Taz. 'Was that all you wanted to talk to me about?'

'No, actually,' said Up. 'I was going to call you to my office anyway. Why have you been skipping our mentor sessions?'

Taz rolled her eyes.

'Don't roll your eyes at me, Taz,' said Up, sternly. 'All underage students at the Academy have mentors and it's a compulsory part of your weekly schedule to come to the timetabled sessions.'

Taz ignored him, unable to think of a response.

'Taz, you've missed three sessions with me,' said Up. 'I'm supposed to go to the Ambassador if you miss three without good reason, and most other mentors would probably have gone to him after two. I'm going to let you off this time, but if you miss another then I won't hesitate to report you straight to the Ambassador.'

'What's the point anyway?' asked Taz. 'We only sit and chat, or go to the gym. I can work out in my free time!'

'The point is that we do that because you don't have any issues,' retorted Up. 'I'm here in case you have problems, and it seems you do have a problem if you're not turning up for your mentor sessions.'

'You're right, I do have a problem,' snapped Taz. 'It's you!'

It was Up's turn to roll his eyes. 'You're not still angry at me are you?'

'Yes!'

'I can't even remember why we fell out in the first place!'

'You said you didn't want us to be friends anymore and then you told me that I'd never find any other friends,' Taz reminded him.

'I didn't mean that we shouldn't be friends anymore,' said Up. 'I just said that we should keep our distance so that nobody could suspect a relationship between us and that you should find some other friends because I won't be able to be here for you forever.'

'Well, I have made other friends,' said Taz.

'I saw you at lunch,' nodded Up. 'I'm proud of you Taz. I didn't think you could do it.'

'I have done it.'

'I know,' nodded Up. 'Taz, I want to apologise. I shouldn't have said what I said. Well, I should have said it, but not that way. I love having you as a friend. You're probably my best friend. But I don't want to be your only friend. I want you to have other people to turn to when I'm not here.'

Up sighed.

'Taz, you're only fifteen, but you've been through a lot,' he said. 'You've seen what the robots did to your family, what they did to Hugo. Life as a Starship Ranger is tough because you never know when the people you love and care about will get taken away from you. I had a best friend once, back at the Academy, and he was my only friend. I thought that we'd be there for each other forever, but the robots took him and it ripped my life apart.'

Taz knew that he was talking about Mark Bates, Jennifer's older brother, but as Up didn't know that she knew about him she held her tongue.

'Taz, that was the darkest time of my life because when he went, I had nobody left,' said Up. 'I was _ when he died, only a few years older than you are now. I never really made friends with anybody else after that, not because I was scared of losing them too, but I was scared of hurting them if they ever lost me.'

'But you're the toughest son of a bitch I've ever met!' said Taz. 'It'll take more than a few robots to knock you down.'

'Nobody is invincible,' said Up. 'My point is that I don't want you to end up like me, old and friendless, just fighting the robots because I've got nothing else.'

'You've got me,' said Taz.

'Have I?' asked Up. 'I feel like I'm losing you, just like I've lost everybody else who ever meant anything to me.'

'You'll never lose me,' smiled Taz, realising that she was forgiving Up. She'd been stupid and quick-tempered to ague with him about such a stupid thing.

'Are you...?'

'Saying sorry?' finished Taz.

'I was going to ask of you were forgiving me for being such an ass,' laughed Up.

'I'm doing both,' said Taz. 'I forgive you and I'm sorry for taking what you said the wrong way. I know you're only trying to look out for me.'

'Come here,' said Up, getting to his feet and holding out his arms. Taz walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, her head resting on his hard, muscular chest.

'Best friends again?' asked Up, looking down at Taz.

'Best friends,' nodded Taz.

'So I won't have any more problems trying to get you to turn up to your mentor sessions?' smirked Up.

'No,' Taz shook her head.

'And if you have any more problems, you'll come straight to me?'

'Yes.'

They ended the hug.

'Am I dismissed?' asked Taz.

'Yes, Cadet!' said Up, saluting her in a mocking way.

Taz laughed, glad that their relationship was back to normal, back to the way she liked it.

'But only if you promise to apologise to that mechanic later,' added Up, returning to his 'responsible mentor' voice.

Taz swore, having hoped that he'd forgotten all about that.

'Taz...' Up warned her.

'Fine,' sighed Taz. 'I'll apologise to him.'

'Good. See you later, Taz.'

* * *

_Hope you have a good Christmas!_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

At dinner that evening, Taz told her new group of friends to sit at their normal table without her, and she instead took her tray of food over to the table where the young, curly-haired mechanic sat alone. When he saw Taz approaching his table, he looked alarmed and made to stand up, picking up his own tray, but Taz called out to him.

'Don't move!' she said, walking over to the table and sitting opposite him, as he reluctantly sat down again.

'You can have whatever you want,' said the boy, pushing his tray towards Taz. 'Just please don't hurt me.'

'What?' asked Taz, confused.

'My dinner,' said the boy, pointing at his food. 'Take as much as you want.'

'I don't want your food,' frowned Taz, befuddled by the boy's behaviour.

'You don't?' He seemed surprised.

'No,' said Taz, pushing the sloppy mess on her own plate around with a fork. 'Just having my portion is bad enough. Why would I want yours?'

'That's what the cadets normally want from me,' said the boy.

'Which cadets?' asked Taz.

'All the big ones,' said the boy. 'They say their portions aren't enough so they steal them off the weak guys. Like me.'

'That's not very nice,' said Taz.

'I'm an easy target,' shrugged the boy.

'Look,' said Taz, 'I wanted to apologise for how I acted earlier. I was wrong to use force.'

The boy just sat there in a stunned silence. He obviously wasn't used to his tormentors apologising to him.

'Up told me that the bigger cadets all pick on you,' said Taz. 'He told me that you had enough to deal with without me joining in. I just have one question. Why have you been following me and Jennifer around?'

'You remind me of myself,' said the boy softly. 'No offence, but nobody likes you. I've heard all the rumours, and I've seen you around. Neither of you had any friends until you found each other. I was jealous of you. I envy the way you can ignore the people trying to bully you and not let it bother you. I wished I could pluck up the courage to ask to be your friend, but I was never that brave. I was scared you would be just like the rest of them and exclude me.'

'That's what Up said,' nodded Taz. 'He told me you were probably following us because you admire us.'

'I do,' nodded the boy, glancing up at Taz before looking away quickly. 'I wish I could be more like you. I wish I could be less self conscious and as unaffected by what people think of me as you are.'

'What's your name?' asked Taz.

'Max Brauchmann,' said the boy.

'Where are you from?' Taz had noticed he had a slightly strange accent, one that was different to everyone else at the Academy and she didn't recognise it.

'I'm half German,' said Max. 'I lived there until I was nine, then my dad died so my mom and I moved to live with her family in Tennessee.'

'Why don't you just stand up to the bullies?' asked Taz.

'But I'm tiny!' protested Max.

'So am I!' pointed out Taz.

'But you're tough! If I tried to stand up to them they'd just beat me up so hard that there wasn't an inch of my skin left unbruised. Besides, I'm kind of used to being bullied.'

'What do you mean?' asked Taz.

'I've always been small for my age, so I'm an easy target,' explained Max. 'And I'm clever too, so everyone thinks I'm a nerd. When I was in Germany, I could speak English as well as I spoke German because I had an American mom. The other kids thought I was weird, so they didn't talk to me. When Dad died and we moved to America, I thought it was going to be a new start, but I didn't fit in. They laughed at me because of my accent and called me a Nazi, which is stupid because that war happened hundreds of years ago. I started high school when I was twelve and graduated two years ahead of everyone else my age.'

'How old are you now?' asked Taz.

'I'm sixteen,' said Max. 'I graduated high school top of my class last summer and decided to join the Starship Rangers as a mechanic. I thought everyone else would love math and physics as much as I do, but I was wrong. They all think I'm a nerd too, and to top it all off, the biggest cadets all pick on me.'

'You could be friends with me,' suggested Taz.

'Would the others mind?' asked Max timidly.

'No,' Taz shook her head. 'Like you said, we're just rejects anyway. Tom calls us the Band of Misfits. We wouldn't exclude anyone.'

'Maybe...' Max still seemed uncertain.

'No, I'll introduce you now,' said Taz.

She got to her feet and picked up her tray, nodding at Max to indicate he could do the same. He looked unsure, a look of worry etched on his face.

'Come on.'

Taz balanced her tray on one arm and used her other hand to pull Max to his feet, and he reluctantly picked up his tray too. Taz walked over to her usual table, where Jennifer, Tom and Hayden were engaged in conversation, and Max reluctantly followed standing awkwardly as Taz sat down as if waiting for the other three to give him permission to sit with them.

'This is Max,' said Taz. 'He wants to join us if that's okay?'

Jennifer sent Taz a questioning look, but Taz just shook her head. Jennifer turned to Max with a warm smile on her face.

'Hi Max,' she said, welcomingly. 'I'm Jennifer. You're welcome to sit down.'

Max still didn't sit down, his eyes flicking nervously between the two boys as if waiting for their permission too.

Tom realised that Max was waiting for him and nodded at the shy boy, and so Max turned his attention to Hayden, who was engrossed in his food. Tom elbowed him sharply in the ribs and nodded at Max.

'Oh yeah,' said Hayden, his words muffled by the mashed potato in his mouth. 'Take a seat.'

Max sat down in one of the empty seats and started slowly eating his food. Taz noticed that he kept glancing around at the rest of them self-consciously and she pitied him. It was clear from his behaviour that the years of bullying had battered his self-esteem to the point where he didn't even believe in himself enough to talk to others when they were trying to include him. Jennifer kept asking him questions to involve him in the conversation, but he would give short nervous answers before retreating back into silence. Taz decided to make it her mission to make Max a more confident person. He seemed a nice enough boy, she just needed to find a way to ease him out of his shy, self-conscious shell.

* * *

_A/N:_

_I'll try and get the next chapter up ASAP. :)_

_Also, I've been writing another story and I plan to put the first chapter of that up this weekend, so if you're interested, check back on Sunday and give it a read!_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The weeks passed and Taz found herself immersed in life at the Academy. Though she had her little group of friends, she found that she didn't always have the time to spend hanging around with them. She took her studies as a cadet very seriously and could often be found in the gym long after every other cadet, or else sparring with Up in the combat rooms after class.

Taz was determined to be the best. She knew that she'd started at the Academy in September as an underdog, the smallest in all of her classes, but she was desperate to prove that size didn't matter. She didn't want to let anything stop her from being the best she could be, not her height, nor her gender.

Though Taz had completed the Devil's Hour exercise in under the hour required and was no longer forced to traipse her way to the sports field early every Sunday morning to run around it, every cadet was still required to do the run once every two weeks in their fitness class with Commander Rose. An increasing number of Taz's classmates, including Tom and Hayden, had also run the fifteen laps in an hour, but Taz was the only one who put in maximum effort. Up had warned her that more laps got added each year at the Academy, so she pushed herself to the limit, hoping to make life easier for herself next year when they had to run even more laps in an hour, while her classmates ran at a comfortable pace and finished just inside the hour.

Christmas passed, and Taz trained harder than ever. The holiday season had always been time for Taz's family to spend time together, and memories of past Christmases brought back painful memories of her family. She tried her hardest to keep herself busy during this time, wanting to push any thoughts that might make her upset that her family was no longer around to celebrate the festive season out of her mind. She pushed her friends away for a few days, though they tried to keep her involved with the festivities. Up was the only one who understood, as Christmas brought back similar feelings for him, though the grief was buried much deeper within him.

December turned into January and the mood in the Academy changed as everyone prepared for their mid-year exams. In comparison to the scientists and engineers, the cadets hardly had any written exams at all. Taz barely saw Jennifer and Max during the two weeks before the exams at the end of January because they were so busy studying. However, Taz was also taking her Spanish exam, which she knew she would ace. This was the foreign language exam most students took at the end of their fourth year at the Academy, meaning that Taz would get this module out of the way long before her peers, although Max was taking the same exam but in German.

On top of the few exams that the cadets had, they also had to pass mid-year assessments in fitness and combat. Taz passed these with ease too, all of her extra time spent in the gym paying off as she came top in both classes.

The Academy settled back into its normal routine when exams were over, although for many of the first years, it had been the kick up the backside they needed to work and train harder.

The only exam Taz actually failed was calculus. She was hardly surprised when the teacher dropped the paper onto Taz's desk without comment, a big red 'F' at the top. It was her least favorite subject and she hadn't understood anything they'd covered in class all year. However she was reluctant to do anything about it, not wanting to spend any more time studying the wretched subject than she already did, and instead of going to the library to study after class like her teacher suggested, she merely shoved the paper into the bottom of her bag, hurried off to a secluded corner behind one of the storage sheds outside the main Academy building.

Taz sat down against the wall of the shed and pulled a book out of her bag. It was a Spanish children's story, one that she hadn't read for years and had come across in the Spanish section of the library at the Academy.

After about 10 minutes, a shadow fell over Taz and she looked up to see Scott and Riley, two of the bullies from her dorm, standing over her, their arms crossed and malicious grins on their faces.

'Well well,' jeered Scott. 'Look what we have here.'

Scott's gang hadn't picked on Taz for weeks. She'd been hoping that they'd decided to leave her alone for good, but evidently not.

'The little nerd,' said Riley. 'Where are the rest of your nerd friends?'

'None of your business,' scowled Taz.

Scott reached forwards and plucked Taz's book from her hands, not even taking one glance at it before tossing it away over his shoulder onto the dusty floor.

'Hey!'

Scott and Riley turned around and Taz let a little smile onto her face at the sound of Up's voice. He truly did look like a savior, his muscled body silhouetted against the bright sun behind him. Taz got to her feet and went to stand beside him.

'Hey look Riley,' said Scott. 'It's the Academy's favorite double act.'

The two boys sniggered.

'You can laugh, but you wouldn't pick on her when I'm around,' said Up calmly.

'You wanna bet?' asked Scott, taking a step forwards and squaring up to Up.

'Yeah, I do actually,' said Up. He held a hand out to Taz and squatted down, allowing Taz to put her boot on his knee and take his hand so that he could hoist her up onto his back.

They both let out an animalistic roar and Scott and Riley looked up in fear as Up charged towards them. They turned on their heels and ran, Up and Taz not far behind, all the way across a deserted sports' field to the dumpsters.

Up stopped running about three quarters of the way across the field, after Scott and Riley had hidden among the dumpsters. He let Taz jump down from his back and the two of them stood there and laughed.

'I haven't had that much fun in ages,' grinned Up.

'Me neither,' admitted Taz.

'Come on, let's go inside,' said Up, tapping Taz's shoulder to turn her back towards the main Academy building.

Up led Taz through the hallways of the Academy until they reached his office. Once inside, they both sat down.

'So, your calculus exam,' said Up.

Taz groaned. She should have known there was a reason Up had come looking for her and then brought her to his office.

'Your teacher tells me that you failed your mid-year,' said Up.

'Yeah,' shrugged Taz. 'So?'

'So?' repeated Up. 'Taz, if you don't pass every single exam at the end of your fourth year, you won't graduate as a Starship Ranger.'

'But that's ages away,' moaned Taz.

'If you can't pass an easy little test like this one, you won't pass the horrible fourth year calculus exam!' pointed out Up.

'I hate calculus! It's stupid, and pointless, and difficult!'

'Then let me help you,' said Up simply. 'I've already done four years of calculus. I can help to tutor you outside of your regular calculus classes.'

'Extra calculus?' Taz turned her nose up. 'No way!'

'Taz, how are you going to feel if you get to the end of your fourth year and you pass all of your classes at the top of your class, but you can't graduate because you failed calculus.'

Taz didn't say anything. She knew Up was right but she was too stubborn to admit it.

'I want to help you, Taz,' said Up. 'I know you find calculus hard.'

Taz snorted. Hard was an understatement. Calculus was so difficult it made her brain hurt. It just made no sense.

'Taz, when I was a boy, I was bullied at school,' said Up.

Taz snapped her head up to look at him. He'd never once spoken to her about his life outside being a Starship Ranger, other than the fact that he had no family. He'd certainly never mentioned his childhood.

'I was the weirdo in the class,' continued Up. 'I was fat, useless at sports and I had no friends, so I was an easy target.'

Taz frowned. She couldn't imagine that the tough, muscular man before her had ever been fat and rubbish at sports, let alone weak enough for others to pick on him.

'When I was ten, I came home from school with a black eye and covered in my own blood,' said Up. 'That was the day I told my dad I was being bullied. He told me the most important thing anyone has ever told me.' Up deepened his voice and put on an even stronger Southern drawl to normal in an impression of his father. ''Son, when things get tough, you just gotta get back up.' I've lived my life off those three words ever since. 'Get back up.'

Up sighed.

'I did exactly what he said,' continued Up. 'I set out to change my life. I started running and I joined a boxing club. By the time I started at high school, I could have beaten any of the kids who used to bully me in a fight, if I'd wanted to.'

'Did you?' asked Taz.

'No,' said Up, simply. 'I kept my head down, kept on working hard to be the best I could be. I was the one laughing when I got accepted into the Galactic League Academy a year early.'

'What does this have to do with calculus?' asked Taz. Up's story was interesting, and she was flattered that he'd decided to share some of his childhood with Taz, considering how private he usually kept his past, but she didn't see it'd relevance.

'I wanted to share my father's advice with you,' said Up. 'When things get tough, Taz, you've got to get back up. I know you find calculus tough and you failed your mid-year exam, but you need to get back up and work your ass off to prove to everyone, including your calculus teacher, but especially yourself, that you can do this.'

'But I can't,' moaned Taz.

'That's why I'm going to help you,' said Up. 'We'll use one of your mentoring sessions with me each week to help you pass calculus, and we'll spend more time if we have to. You are going to pass your end-of-year calculus exam, even if I have to give up all of my free time to tutor you. I'm telling you Taz, there is nothing more satisfying than working really hard at something and achieving your goal at the end of it all.'

Taz considered it. She really wanted to pass calculus, but she hated the thought of spending extra time struggling to understand the subject that baffled her. But Up's story was inspiring. The very fact that he'd managed to become the Galactic League's second youngest lieutenant ever from being bullied at middle school was incredible, and although passing calculus would be nothing in comparison to what he'd done, she wanted to do it for him.

'Fine,' said Taz. 'I'll do it.'

'Great,' grinned Up. 'Let's start tomorrow morning.'

* * *

_I'm so sorry for how long this chapter took. I really have no excuses, other than school getting a bit hectic and the fact that I hadn't planned this story at all, but having taken some time out to really think about the direction this story is heading in, I'm happy to continue posting. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, because all of my big exams at school are within the next three weeks, but I can promise you it will be a lot quicker than this chapter. Thank you for your continued support and for sticking by me during the lengthy hiatus, I love you all!_

_-starshipranger38 :)_


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